What's the WORST that can happen?
by Crimson Fox4
Summary: “Aerrow! You and I both know this isn’t going to end up well, so just admit it!” “Come on, it can’t be that bad Piper. What’s the worst that can happen?” I asked as I grinned at her. Not returning my grin Piper said tersely,“It’s Finn. Do the math."
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, for those of you who have been reading my other story, '_A Phoenix Among Hawks' _This is the surprise I promised you all! I have a few more chapters of this one-shot ish story ready, and I have a little bit more to type yet. I'll update one chapter a night, and the chapters will be relatively short compared to some you've seen in my other fic.**

**Just a note, this story has absolutely NOTHING to do with my other fic, no Amp Stone, not nothing, nada, zilch (Sorry, just thought I'd throw that out there...).**

**Alright, so this story is almost like the sequel to absolute power, but of course I've thrown in a few twists here and there (What else did you expect?).**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, including the episode, 'Absolute Power' and of course they are owned by Nerd Corps.**

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_**What's the WORST that can happen?**_

"Aerrow, no. We've been through this; he just can't handle it."

"Give Finn a little faith would you Piper? Everyone deserves a second chance, even Finn." I said to Piper who had the beginnings of a frown tugging at her usually smiling mouth.

"But don't you remember what happened last time?" Junko whimpered as his eyes darted from place to place.

"You guys just said he went power mad." I replied

"More like, pulling us into a vortex of slow painful doom that even _I_ can't begin to think of." Stork said, with his eye twitching madly.

"Don't you think you're over reacting just a little?" I asked our green skinned carrier pilot.

"No." Stork replied with all seriousness.

"What about you Radarr?" I asked my furry blue co-pilot.

Radarr ran frantically about the room, thrashing his arms about, making weird exaggerated movements and noises, and then Radarr threw his arms up into the air in front of him, the squeaking he made sounded oddly familiar, almost like a 'BOOM!" sort of sound.

After Radarr's pantomimed an explosion, he fell onto the ground; his back hit the floor with a soft thud, his eyes closed, and his tongue was sticking out of his mouth at a funny angle.

I looked at my little friend, and then giving up on figuring out what his charade meant, I asked Stork, "Umm… Stork?" I saw Radarr open one of his eyes and stare at Stork.

Charades wasn't really one of my strong points. Stork was actually one of the only people in our squadron that was able to tell what all of Radarr's sporadic movements meant.

Sighing Stork began, "Long story short, what Radarr was trying to say is; We. Are. DOOMED!" I cringed as Stork's voice rose in volume. Continuing to rant Stork said, "A painstakingly slow doom at the hands of a power hungry Finn! I'll get mindworms, my rash will get worse, and I'll turn BLUE!"

"Alright, anyone else have any more objections?" I asked. My teammates stared at me blankly before all of their hands shot up into the air.

"Alright, alright, I get the point." I said with my arms out in front of me. "I know you guys aren't happy, but I still believe he deserves a second chance. Besides, I'll take full responsibility for anything he does."

Just receiving more blank stares as an answer, I sighed before yelling, "You can come in Finn!"

A smiling Finn walked into my room, the makeshift meeting place for the little 'discussion' I had just had with the rest of my team.

"Well?" Finn asked as he wiggled his eyebrows and a cocky smile appeared on his face.

"We've all decided," I began before Stork interrupted.

"More or less..." Stork said with his patented 'I'm so doomed' look on his face.

"We've _all _decided that we will give you one, _one_ more chance to be acting team leader for the rest of the day."

Smiling Finn cried, "Thanks Dude!"

Finn dashed into the hall closing the door after him We could hear excited screaming on the other side of my now closed door saying things like, "Oh ya! I Rock! The Finnster is going to rule the Condor! I am King! I'm - " The yelling abruptly stopped as Finn walked back into my room and said, "I would appreciate it if you could all meet me on the bridge in an hour if you please," Finn quickly exited, and I could hear more screaming echo down the halls before my door shut.

Rubbing the back of my head I said, "See, nothing to worry about!" My friends just groaned as they all left. Piper didn't leave before pointedly letting me know I was making a huge mistake.

"Aerrow! You and I both know this isn't going to end up well, so just admit it!"

"Come on, it can't be that bad Piper. What's the worst that can happen?" I asked as I grinned at her.

Not returning my grin Piper said tersely, "It's Finn. Do the math."

With that remark, Piper walked out my door.

Junko was taking up the rear of the group, and as he left my room I could hear him say, "Does two come after five, cause' I lost count, and I forget! You know I can't ever get my math right!"

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**Well, what do you all think so far? Good, bad? Well just don't sit there reading this! Let me know! XD**

**Crismon Fox4**

**PS. Don't let Unleash The Shadow know... but I kind of posted this before they editied it for me... Don't kill me my friend! /runs off to hide/**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! You're all awesome!**

**Well here's chapter two, although it is rather short. But don't worry tomorrow night's update will be longer!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the propery of Nerd Corps.**

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About an hour later, I was walking towards the bridge, when I bumped into Piper, knocking her over as she came out of her lab.

"Sorry!" I apologized quickly as I reached down to help her up.

Piper reached up and clasped my hand, but then with a glint in her eyes she yanked hard on my hand, and soon I found my self sprawled out on my stomach next to her on the floor.

Piper's ringing laughter entered my ears as I recovered from the shock, and I pulled myself into a sitting position. Leaning back on my hands as Piper's laughing subsided I asked, "Any reason why you did that?"

Looking at me, Piper shrugged her slender shoulders and said, "I don't know... the opportunity presented itself and I took it."

"Couldn't you wait until we were at the beach or something? At least then I could've fallen on sand or in the water."

"Well that wouldn't be as fun."

"It'd be safer."

"Since when were you about being safe?" Piper asked, as she stood up and brushed the dirt off of her pants.

Still on the floor I said, "Usually I don't have to worry about being safe when I'm around my teammates, but now, maybe I do."

"Maybe." Piper said as she looked at me quizzically. "Oh get up already, it couldn't have been _that_ bad of a fall." Piper extended her hand, and I grasped onto her wrist.

"Would you like to find out?" I said to Piper with a cheeky grin on my face.

"You wouldn't!" Piper said as she looked me over, trying to tell if I was being serious or not.

"Try me!"

Suddenly realizing that I wasn't joking, Piper tried to take her hand back, but I just tightened my grip. I could've sworn that I pulled her arm out of her socket, as with a quick jerk Piper was now the one sprawled out on the floor.

Laughing, I stood up, and raced down the hall, and around a corner. I stuck my head back around the wall, and stuck my tongue out playfully at my navigator.

Staring me down Piper exclaimed, "Get back here Sky Knight!" As she picked herself off of the floor, running after me down the many halls of the Condor.

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**Once again, sorry that its so short, but this is just something that I'm having fun writing inbetween updates for my other story. That could also explain why it might start to get really random eventually ... :P**

**Don't worry, there will be plenty of doom and a power mad Finn eventually!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, here's the third installment! Thanks again to everyone who has been reviewing!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps**

Hearing Piper's footsteps behind me, I dashed around another corner before slipping into the hangar bay. I quickly ducked behind a pile of crates, willing my heart to stop racing and to get my breath back to a normal pace. I didn't really want Piper to find me on the account of my breathing being too loud.

Only moments after I had hidden myself, I heard the familiar swishing sound of the door opening. Hearing light footsteps, and someone's breathing other than my own, I knew that Piper had figured out where I had gone.

"Come on Aerrow, I know you're in here!" I heard Piper call, her voice echoing within the metal walls of the hangar.

Hearing Piper walk closer, with ease from combat training with Finn, Junko and Radarr, I was able to pull myself up the leaning tower of crates without making much of a sound.

The pile was actually the biggest one in the hangar, so I was able to stretch out on top. Looking down, I noticed that Piper had rounded the pile of boxes, and was now standing where I had been hiding moments before.

I loved messing with Piper like this sometimes. Sure, the guys and I always messed around, no questions asked. But messing around with Piper, it was different to say the least. It almost felt like it had a purpose somehow...

What was the oddest thing of all though was that Piper had actually started it this time, kind of, sort of, well not really... Well, the point is that an opportunity presented itself to her, and another had presented itself to me.

Glancing quickly at the clock that was on the wall at the back of the hangar bay, I noticed that we were late for Finn's 'meeting'.

Sighing, I jumped off of the crates, and landed almost silently behind Piper, unfortunately I think that Piper must have felt the wind from my descent as she turned around and was about to say something, when I heard an ominous creaking noise coming from beside me.

"Piper! Watch out!" I cried as I tackled Piper to the ground, throwing my body over hers, so that nothing would hit her,

With a final creak, the suspense was broken as the tower of crates began to fall, almost like a cascading waterfall of hard, heavy wood.

Things seemed to go in slow motion, as the crates began to fall, and I tried to roll Piper and I out of the way. We were almost clear of the danger zone when I heard Piper cry out in pain.

After a resounding crash, I peeked out of my shut eyelids to see boxes upon wooden boxes and their contents sprawled all over the room.

Groaning from beneath me, Piper whispered, "Can you get off of me now Aerrow?" Looking down, I saw that I had pinned Piper to the ground, me almost sitting on her back.

"Sorry Piper!" I cried apologetically as I quickly got off of her. Reaching my hand down, Piper again grasped onto my hand, but this time she didn't even try to pull me down. She seemed almost grateful for the help.

Looking at her usually cheerful face, I couldn't help but notice the pained look in her eyes.

"Are you okay Piper?" I began as she slowly got up with my help, obviously favouring her right foot, as she tried not to lean on me.

"Ya, I'm fine." Seeing my look of unbelief, she added, "Really, I'm just great."

With a fake smile pasted unto her face, she slowly made her way to the door, limping.

I looked around at the mess we had made, and wondered whether I should clean it up or not. If you thought about it, I wasn't really in charge of the squadron today, so I figured I could just let Finn get to the bottom of the mess... even though it was likely that he wouldn't.

Smiling I walked out of the hangar bay door and into the hall only to see Piper leaning against the wall opposite the doorway.

"Piper, what's wrong?" I said concernedly as I took the few steps required to reach her.

"It's nothing..."

"Stop telling me it's nothing."

"What do you want me to tell you then?"

"I don't know..." I said as Piper looked down at her shoes.

Resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder I said, "What's wrong Piper, did you hurt yourself?" Looking up at me, I searched Piper's beautiful orange eyes for an answer.

Shaking my head, I realized that I shouldn't be thinking of Piper's eyes as beautiful, she was my teammate after all.

"Well... I guess I must have hurt myself when the boxes fell over..."

Frowning I said, "So it's my fault you got hurt?"

"No!" Piper said in a loud and rushed manner. "No." She said a bit more quietly. "It wasn't your fault; I would have been crushed by the boxes if you hadn't saved me!"

"Still..."

"Oh come on Aerrow, it's not like it's your fault! It's not like it was you that made the crates tip over or anything."

"Actually... I think it was." It was my turn to look at the floor, although Piper's kind words soon brought my attention back to her.

"So maybe you were the one who knocked over the crates, but its not like you planned on it, so you aren't the one to blame. Besides, I'll be just fine, all I have to do is walk it off." Smiling at me, Piper started to walk towards the bridge, her limp getting a bit worse with every step she took.

Running up beside her, I threw one of my arms over her shoulders, and told her, "I'll help you to the bridge, how's that?"

"You don't have to..."

"But I want to, consider it my apology." I said. Piper just grinned at me in response with her eyes dancing.

"Just to the bridge, okay?"

"Okay."

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**Alright, just to let you know I have one more chapter ready after this one, and another that is halfway done. I'll type more up tomorrow though once I get my other story updated. (yes, that means all of you who read APAH should be expecting an update sometime tomorrow!)**

**Oh and another note, this story was meant to be funny so I'm going to be going down a bunch of random bunny trails. The next chapter has a bit of power mad Finn in it.**

**Hope you are all liking it so far! Review if you feel like it!**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. I didn't have time to edit this chapter, sorry!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks again to everyone who has been reviewing! Here is chapter 4, and it has the beginnings of Finn going power mad. But why am I telling you this, go on, read it!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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Walking through the doors of the bridge, I gave a nervous smile as the other guys looked at me like I had gone crazy. It must have seemed like it because my arm was around Piper's shoulders, and that we both looked a mess.

"Dude! You were supposed to be here like, forever ago! What happened?" Finn said as he sauntered up to me, pointing a finger at my face accusingly.

"Calm down Finn, we're only fifteen minutes late, its no big deal, right?" I said trying to defend myself as I walked Piper over to the table.

With a quiet moan of pain, Piper slowly sat down in one of the chairs that were around our planning table that was in the middle of the bridge.

"It is a big deal!" Finn said. I could tell he was trying to act like a leader, but all he was being successful in doing was sounding like a whiny kid.

"Why is it such a big deal?" I retorted. "I never got worked up when you showed up late for all of our other meetings." I hated giving Finn a hard time, but I was going to make sure he got the leadership experience as a whole, not just bits and pieces.

"That's the difference, _I _called this meeting, and _you_ two were the ones that were late. During my time as leader-"

"_Acting _team leader." Stork interjected.

Frowning, Finn continued, "Fine, as _acting_ team leader, I intend to take my duties seriously, and as such you two will both be punished for being late."

"Punished?" I asked as I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrow. There was no way Finn could be for real.

"That's right, and your punishment is that we have to wait to proceed with this meeting until you finish your chores... _and_ mine."

"What?" I asked, astonished that for once Finn wasn't kidding.

"You heard me!" Finn said, his voice escalating with each word. Pointing at the door he continued to yell, "Your chore for today is to make the hangar spotless!"

I had so many things I wanted to say to Finn right then, but I decided against it. He would just yell at me more, and then I'd have the whole team laughing behind my back at how dumb I had been to put Finn in charge again.

Turning around so that I was facing Piper I said, "You game for some cleaning?"

Wincing as she stood Piper mumbled, "Sure."

Piper and I walked out the door, or rather in Piper's case she limped out the door, leaving a very confused Wallop and Merb scared for their lives that were in the hands of a power mad Finn.

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**Hate it? Like it? Suggestions? Comments, Concerns? (wow, I sound like one of those telemarketers...) Let me know in a review, constructive criticism is always welcome!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm glad to hear that everyone is liking this fic so far! (at least thats what I'm getting from your reviews... say otherwise if its not true! XD ) Thanks again for all of the reviews and feed back! And sorry that this fic is quite random and lacking a decent plot...**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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"Now I seriously regret knocking down these crates." I mumbled to Piper as I began to restack them.

Giggling she said, "And you didn't regret it before when they fell on me?"

Setting another crate down on the stack I replied, "I said I was sorry."

"I was only messing with you Aerrow; I know you didn't mean it." Piper said, smiling absentmindedly as she sorted through some of the contents that had fallen out of one crate.

I couldn't help but shake my head. For some reason or another Piper must have thought that messing around with my head would be fun or something... It was a pretty stark contrast to earlier on when she had told me that letting Finn be acting team leader for the day would only lead to trouble.

Well I admit it; I was beginning to wonder if she was right. I mean as the _actual_ leader of the squadron I took on as many chores as I could. Piper had also decided when we started the squadron that she could cover a fair amount of chores too.

Well now I was doing my chores, doing any of Piper's that she couldn't do because of her leg and most of Finn's chores too.

I was fine with helping Piper out with her chores, she was hurt after all, but Finn making us do his as well?

After a few more minutes, I had managed to get all of the crates together in a bit more stable pile, but I was still missing the one the Piper was sorting.

Looking over at her, I noticed that she was holding what looked to be a small piece of paper in her hands.

"What's that?" I asked as walked over to her.

"Nothing!" She exclaimed quickly stuffing the piece of paper into her pocket.

"If it was nothing, you would let me see."

"Who says I would?"

"I just did."

"Duh." Piper said smirking as she quickly gathered up all of the other contents that had been thrown out of the crate. Once she had collected them all she handed the crate over to me.

"Thanks." I said as I walked over to the pile I had made.

"Is that the last of the chores?" Piper asked from behind me.

"Yep."

"That's good; I don't think I could've taken anymore."

I blinked. "But I was doing all of the hard work though."

"Who says?"

"I do."

"Duh!" Piper said, a grin slowly appearing on her face.

My hand flew to my forehead. "Would you stop that?"

"But its so much fun." Piper replied, pretending to pout.

"You know puppy dog eyes don't work on me, right?"

"Says who?"

"Says-" I began before I cut myself short. "Are you getting the feeling that we're going in circles with this conversation?"

"Says Who?"

"I'm not falling for that one again!"

"Says Who?"

"Stop that!"

"Says W-" Piper began before I clamped my hand over her mouth.

"Come on; let's get to the bridge before you become a broken record player."

"Mumph, frumphf." Piper said into my hand, but the words that she was trying to say came out jumbled.

Grinning in victory I teased, "I can't hear you!"

Piper tried to say something else, but I kept my hand over her mouth as I led her towards the door.

"Ouch!" I yelped as I drew my hand away from Piper's face. "Did you just bite me?!" I exclaimed as I looked at a red mark that was appearing on my index finger.

"Maybe." Piper said as she walked down the hallway towards the bridge, the limp in her step still evident despite her attempts to cover it up.

If Finn were here with me and not focusing on going power mad on the bridge; around now he would be mumbling, 'I will never understand girls'.

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**Well I hope you all liked it, I should have the next chapter be centering around Finn's power hungriness... (I actually don't have it typed yet... but I'm going to go and do that right now...)**

**Crimson Fox4**

**I just realized something... considering how short these chapters are... this one is actually KIND OF long... sorry, that was random, as is this fic!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again to everyone who has been reviewing and reading this story of mine! And thanks goes to Ambrel and their suggestions and insight!**

**Well it seems like people are actually liking this story... I'm actually rather surprised XD**

**I just typed this up tonight, so it might be a little rough...**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are te property of Nerd Corps.  
**

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As Piper and I walked onto the bridge, I couldn't help but notice the looks of murderous thoughts that Stork and Junko directed at Finn.

"What did he do?" I asked in desperation.

"I don't think I want to know." Piper said offhandedly as she collapsed into a chair.

"Is the hangar sparkly and spotless?" Finn asked us.

"Yes." I replied quickly, gritting my teeth.

"Good." Finn said haughtily. "Then I want this place looking festive! It's high time for another high alert party!"

"A what?" I asked as I saw Piper begin to shake her head in disgust.

Totally ignoring my question Finn began to give out orders, "Junko, fire up the grill! Stork; get cooking, Piper; get some decorations and don't let them be as weak as last time!"

I blinked. Was Finn for real?

"Oh, and Aerrow?" Finn said wiggling his toes through his hole filled sock, "A foot rub if you please."

"How about no?" I retorted, my hands clenched at my sides to avoid strangling Finn.

Frowning Finn said quickly, "Fine. Piper, let Aerrow do the decorations, you're on foot rub duty."

If looks could kill, Finn and I would be dead right now. Piper's glare was going right through us and burning a hole right through the metal walls.

"No." Piper whispered as she stared Finn down.

"What was that?" Finn asked, trying his best to return the stare without falling victim to her superior one.

"I said no Finn!" Piper said as she stood up slowly from the chair she had been sitting in. Once she was standing, I noticed that she was still favouring her right foot a bit, and that she had put most of her weight on her other foot.

"Do I sense dissent?" Finn asked in disgust.

"Of course you don't Finn!" Pier retorted.

"Good, then get to rubbing my feet!"

"Ya... no." Piper hissed, still obviously ticked at Finn's crazy gumption to assume that she would do such a task as he was asking.

"You just said you weren't dissenting though!"

"That's because I'm flat out refusing!"

I felt helpless as my eyes darted from one of my bickering teammates to the other. They were almost as bad as Radarr fighting with those crazy chickens... almost.

"Banished!" Finn yelled suddenly.

"Huh?" I said, totally lost.

"Aerrow," Finn began with a fake voice of authority, "Take Piper to the brig. I will deal with her later."

"Umm, we don't have a brig, remember??" I tried to tell Finn tactfully, but it still came out as an almost insult.

Turning towards me Finn said tersely, "What!"

Rubbing the back of my head I replied, "We kind of turned the brig into your room, remember?"

Looking thoughtful for all of a moment Finn simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Escort her to her room then." He said simply.

"Don't even bother," Piper began as she marched towards the exit of the bridge where Finn and I stood. "I can find it myself!" She hissed as she shoved Finn out of her way as she left the bridge.

"Hey!" Finn yelled as the force of Piper's push sent him flying for the floor.

I had to wince as I heard the crashing of metal objects, the snapping of wood, and then the cluttering of annoyed chickens.

How did those chickens even manage to get on our ship? That mystery still puzzles me.

"Ow..." Finn moaned as he stood up with a pot stuck onto his rump, and a broken box over his head.

I had to start laughing as soon as I caught sight of what the box was used for. Merb cabbage was strewn about where Finn had fallen, and even a few chunks had gotten into Finn's hair, and evidently his mouth.

I continued to laugh as he tried to spit the disgusting green vomit inducing vegetable out before it accomplished that, vomiting.

"What are you laughing at?" Finn demanded, trying to gather up the few shards of dignity he had left.

Managing to control my laughter for a few moments I replied, "That ought to teach you to get Piper mad, you're a mess!"

"No one's going to teach me anything! I'm already the smartest one on this ship!"

I had to let out another whoop of laughter after Finn said that.

Choking back anymore of my audible response to the hilarity that was unfolding I joked, "You really will never understand girls, will you Finn?"

"Y - Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Finn said trying to defend himself.

"I mean, you totally don't understand girls! Plus you totally ticked Piper off, shouldn't you know better by now?" I had finally calmed down from my laughing fit and my voice had returned to a semi-serious tone.

"Are you questioning my skills with the ladies?" Finn yelled at me.

"No..." I began before adding, "I'm questioning your _lack_ of 'skills with the ladies'"

Finn narrowed his eyes, and mixed with his flushed face, the green merb cabbage all around him, and the chaos that formed in his wake, I couldn't smother my laughter anymore, and I almost doubled over laughing.

"You look like some upchucked their fruit cake from Christmas on you!" I said between my bouts of laughing.

"That's it!" Finn yelled as I tried desperately to regain my composure.

"Banished!" Finn screamed as he pointed towards the exit.

Recovering, I gave him a mock salute as I walked out the door. I was about the press the button to close it when I decided to poke my head back through the doorway.

Grinning mischievously from ear to ear I said, "I like what you've done with your hair Finn! Green is a very nice colour on you!

"Banished!" Finn cried yet again.

I gave another mock salute as I waltzed out the door and down the hallway. It had never felt so good to be banished.

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**Okay, I got to run! I hope you all enjoyed it! (I didn't get a chance to edit this chapter! I'm so sorry!)**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS I know most of you guys have already read this chapter, but if you are re-reading this, I added in some more conversation between Aerrow and Finn from the time Piper is banished to the time Aerrow is banished. I agree with you Ambrel; it did seem to go a little quick, I hope this helped!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again to all of the reviewers! **

**Alright just a quick side note before you read this chapter. READ THIS NOTE! Ambrel made a very good point in their review from yesterday's chapter. I agree with them that between Piper's banishment and Aerrow's banishment last chapter went a little quick. So if you all back track to chapter 6 before reading this chapter, you'll get a few extra laughs, and you might be able to understand parts of this chapter a whole lot better as I added a bit more to it!**

**Also, I'm trying something new. Up till now this fic has been in Aerrow's POV. This chapter is in Piper's. Tomorrow's chapter should be in Aerrow's, and then after that I think I'll do a chapter or two each in Junko or Stork's POVs so that you can see how they are feeling about being bansihed. Wow, this is a long note...**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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_PIPER_

Walking through the halls after being 'banished' by Finn, I finally got to my room, yet I didn't really feel like going in. I mean, who would? There are so many more things I could do today than sit in my room and rot of boredom just because Finn thought that being leader – acting team leader at that – suddenly made him the king of the Condor.

Sitting and rotting in my room, wasn't exactly on my 'to do list' for the day. The only person on this ship that chose to rot in their room doing nothing was Finn. Maybe being sent to your room to rot was an actual punishment of sorts... but I doubt Finn realized it.

Sighing, I began to walk towards my lab.

Even if Finn were to come and check on me, I know that if he found me missing he would go straight to the lab. But really; we're talking about Finn here. He's already shown us one too many times the amount of leadership skills he has. That paired up with his brain power, or lack there of, made him one of the WORST possible people to leave in charge of other people, let alone a squadron.

I know that Finn can have his moments of triumph and can actually say something smart once in a blue moon, but on a day to day basis he was as bad as a skunk in an expensive perfume shop. Not in the sense that he stunk, just that him acting smart would have been just as odd as a skunk being in a perfume shop.

I doubted that the words 'Finn' and 'smart' would be used in the same sentence in the near future.

Opening the door to my lab, I went to my desk and threw a few crystals into a bag, along with the current book I was reading, '101 ways to control your anger, and another 1001 ways to drive dumb blondes mad'. I also threw in a few pencils, my notebook for taking well...notes on crystals, and the log book.

I had always kept and recorded our daily proceedings in the log book for many reasons. It was a good way to remember things such as who we had battled, where we had done recon, what silly antics the boys had been up to, and of course just keeping track of everything we did as a squadron.

Today's entry was going to be something alright.

Besides, I didn't really trust anyone else to keep accurate notes in our log book anyways.

As I headed out the door of the lab, I grabbed my sketchbook on the way out as a last minute edition to my already bulging bag.

I had heard a crash from the bridge as I walked towards my room a few moments ago, but now all that I could hear was yelling and laughing.

It was really strange.

But it reminded me a whole lot about last Christmas...

It was almost the same identical laugh that Finn had received from Aerrow when the remnants of the fruit cake that Radarr had eaten by himself found their way from Radarr's stomach, to Finn's head.

I giggled at the memory as I headed down the hall and towards a door that hardly anyone used anymore but me. You could say that it led to one of my favourite places _on_ the Condor.

* * *

**Alright, I know this chapter wasn't overly long, but I'm updating once a night despite school and soccer and homework and such, so I think I'm doing okay so far... I guess ... XP**

**Alright, since I only have a skeleton plot for this fic, I'm going to take a page out of Ambrel's book (hope you don't mind) and try and get a poll running on my profile and give you some options to vote on regarding how you all would like to see this fic end. I'll give you several options, probably allow you to make a max of two choices. I'll also have an 'other' category that you can vote on. But be warned, if you vote 'other' I'll be expecting you to drop me a line and give me your ideas!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks go out to my three reviewers from the last chapter; Ambrel, Unleash The Shadow, and SakariWolfe. Thanks for the encouragement and helpfulness!**

**Alrighty, this chapter is back to Aerrow's POV. It's not really funny, but I tried to make the 'conversation' he has funny... but why am I telling you this? Go ahead and read it for yourselves!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

AERROW

I was still laughing inside my head as I reached the door to my room.

Something stopped me from going through the door and into my quarters though.

I wasn't really sure what it was, yet... it was definitely _something_.

Piper.

I hadn't seen Piper on the way to my room.

Turning on my heels, I took the few steps required to reach Piper's room that was across from mine and down the hall a little.

I knocked on the door politely, but there was no answer. No 'come in', no shuffling of feet, no sounds whatsoever came from behind the door of my teammate's room.

I rapped my knuckles against the cold metal door again only to receive the same response to the action as before; silence.

"Piper, it's me, Aerrow." No answer.

"Piper, this isn't funny!" Silence.

"Ugh!" I said as I threw my hands in the air in defeat. "It's like talking to a wall or something!" I mumbled. "I bet even walls are even more talkative than you..." I accused as I jabbed a finger at Piper's door as though it were a human.

"Ouch!" I cried as pain shot through my finger.

"Dumb door!" I mumbled kicking it only to regret my actions later as my big toe screamed in disgust at my foolishness.

Sighing I said to myself, "Great! Not only was I crazy enough to let Finn be in charge again, now I'm talking to Piper's door, and myself!" Continuing to muse I muttered, "I should have just listened to Piper's first report on how bad it was the last time I let Finn take on the roll of acting team leader when I was gone."

I guess I had never realized until now that Piper would've had to muster up a LOT of patience that day a few weeks ago. I mean honestly, that time no one but Piper was on the ship to try and keep Finn in check. Even with me here to try and keep him under control this time, I couldn't really do that anymore being banished and all.

Banished? Puh! I wonder where in the Atmos Finn got that idea from.

I knocked on Piper's door once more and receiving another negative answer, I pressed the button on the wall that would open her door if she had it unlocked. I figured that if she was in there she would have it locked, so imagine my surprise when the door actually opened.

Not sure as to what to do next, I took a timid step inside and said, "Piper? You in here? Olly olly oxen free already."

"Rawr!" Something from the shadows cried as something collided with my head.

"Radarr!" I yelped as I fell head over heels into Piper's room.

Managing to pry myself off of the floor I looked down at my cowering blue co-pilot before letting a smile creep onto my face.

"Don't worry about it Radarr." I said to my little friend.

With what almost seemed to be joyful chattering, Radarr jumped onto my shoulder and then positioned himself on his usual perch.

Looking around the semi-dark room, I sighed as I realized Piper wasn't there.

"Come on Radarr, let's go." I said to the animal that was on my shoulder as I turned around and headed back into the hallway as Piper's door shut behind me automatically.

Well… now I've got to find Piper AND figure out how to keep Finn in check, but somehow, I'm pretty sure Finn was far beyond that hours ago...

* * *

**I'm sorry for the lack of humour in this chapter, and sorry that this was posted a bit later at night, I unexpectedly had to go out so of course my typing and update was a little bit delayed.**

**By the way, the poll for you all to vote on what you want as an ending to this story is still up, so vote if you haven't already!! :D (If you are a non-member reading this, I accept anonymous reviews, so feel free to check the poll out and then leave your two favourite choices in a review for me)**

**Next question: Who would you like to get banished first, Junko or Stork? (I'm thinking Junko... but let me know in your reviews!)**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. Just a note for all of those following my other story on this site, A Phoenix Among Hawks, I finally got a chance to start the next chapter today and I'm hoping to have it finished, edited and posted sometime on the weekend. And don't worry, I will or else I will have a Wolfe and a pack of wolves hunting me down come Sunday night... O.O **


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks again to all of my lovely reviewers and people who have voted in the poll! (which is still open by the way!)**

**I'll talk at ya some more once this chapter is done...**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

Once Aerrow had left, a pipe had decided that to let its need for some tender loving care show. I began to move towards the pipe which was spewing steam, but Finn pushed me aside and started to twist the valve that would soon stop the forthcoming steam.

It was nice that Finn was helping for once, but come on! That was MY job!

Wiggling his eyebrows our 'leader' said, "All fixed" Before he decided to lounge about with his feet on the table while he was sitting on one of the chairs that usually surrounded it. It almost seemed like he thought that he was _allowed_ to kick back and be lazy now that he thought he was the leader.

Like Stork had said twice already today, Finn was supposed to be _acting team leader_. Couldn't Aerrow just overrule him and his crazy rules?

Of course not.

Aerrow wanted to give Finn a second chance, a chance to redeem himself and his reputation for not being able to handle a leadership role. Well Aerrow didn't get what he wanted I'm guessing that because currently, Aerrow's been banished.

Yeesh! I think that even _I_ would be a better acting team leader than _Finn_ would or could ever be.

I'd make sure to be a lot nicer to my friends then Finn was right now. Suddenly gaining power must have gone straight to my best friend's blonde topped noggin.

And I definitely wouldn't be banishing people either; it never accomplishes ANYTHING when Finn does that.

If I were to make any rules, I'd probably want everyone to have spare parts storage somewhere in their room; spare parts are always handy! Even if sometimes you don't know _exactly _what they are or where they came from... they're still quite handy!

Oh! And I would make everyone get a nice, soft, cute cuddly teddy bear! My teddy bear always makes me feel better when I'm sad.

Hmmm… maybe we could all benefit from trying to understand Radarr better; my brain always hurts after he plays charades with us. I still don't get how Stork seems to be able to understand them...

"Ahem." I heard someone clear their voice behind me.

I couldn't help but grown inwardly once I figured out it was Finn. He was probably just going to get us to do more pointless work again – or rub his feet.

Yuck! Finn's my best friend and all, but I have no idea if he cleans his feet on a regular basis or not... I'm pretty sure hygiene isn't as huge a concern to him as it is to Stork.

While Finn's room could be likened to what a pig's room would look like – if pigs had a room – where as Stork's room was spotless and absolutely organized, but he didn't ever let us in there much. He's far to concerned about all of the possible diseases we could be carrying or spreading.

I wonder if Finn's feet were a source of disease that Stork should be worrying about... what if there are green crawly things between his toes, and fungus? EW!

Finn finally began to talk, "I believe I gave you both jobs?"

"I can't do mine." Stork said bluntly.  
When Finn's sapphire eyes locked onto him, Stork quickly added, "Junko hasn't gotten the grill yet."

"Junko..." Finn said in an almost warning tone as he shifted his eyes from the shaking merb to me.

"Um..." I said quickly as I couldn't think of anything else to say. Finn raised an eyebrow at me almost to say, 'I'm waiting' before I finally thought of an answer. "Well, you see Finn, do you really want to have this party, I mean ... well... We just had lunch a little bit ago; do we really need a BBQ too?"

Finn's eyes narrowed and were pretty much slits as he hissed, "Do I smell dissent?"

"Well..." I replied quietly as I started playing with my fingers nervously.

"Banished!" Finn barked as he pointed towards the door.

I'm sure my face showed shock at first, but it then hardened into anger as I stormed out the door of the bridge and into the hallway and turned left to the area of the Condor where all of our rooms were.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Stork though... he was now left in the hands of my power mad best friend and that could be quite a scary thing. The look of pure fear and disgust mixed into one on Stork's face as I left the bridge was quite unforgettable too.

As I got closer and closer to my room, I couldn't help but realize that after today, maybe I should tell the others about my teddy bear idea.

I really needed _my_ teddy bear right now. I never liked bullies, and when Finn went power mad, he often acted like one, and I sure didn't like to associate Finn with that word.

As I entered my room and the door slammed shut with a resounding bang behind me before I heard the faint voice of our actual leader calling out, "Hey Junko! Junko?"

Aerrow! This is all your fault! How could you let Finn become a bully by giving him the power that comes with being leader! I hate to admit it, but he can't handle it! It just turns him into a big meany! Why did you let my best friend become a bully Aerrow! WHY?!

I was glad that there was a door between me and the redheaded Sky Knight of our squadron right now or else I would've spat all of those words in his face.

Sighing I looked around my room mumbling, "No where did Mr. Teddy go?"

* * *

**Wow, this chapter wasn't very funny either... sighs Sorry for the lack of funny lately. It should be better in a couple of chapters... the next one will be another Aerrow chapter, and the one after that is Stork. Stork is a generally funny guy, so hopefully the funny comes back then...**

**Anyways, I'm really sorry that this chapter was posted kind of late... I usually aim to get the new chapters up once a day in around 6 ish in the evening, but I had a youth group thing tonight... so ya XD I didn't get back till... an hour and a half-ish ago...**

**Anyways, sorry agian that it was a bit late being posted, and for the lack of funny!**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. Attention all of you APAH readers, I posted a VERY short snippet of the next chapter of my profile. I'm going off to type more of the next chapter right now!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks again to all of those reading this story!**

**I do not won the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

Seeing Junko near the door of his room I called out, "Hey Junko!"

But Junko just disappeared into his room, his door clanging shut with an ominous bang.

"Junko?" I said almost to myself.

Looking to Radarr for some sort of support that Junko wasn't mad at me, my blue co-pilot just shrugged.

Sighing I walked past the kindly wallop's room before walking down the hall a bit longer to reach Piper's lab.

Knocking, I was met with an all too familiar silence. If I were Finn, I would've kicked this door again, but luckily I learned my lesson last time. Which makes me wonder, did Finn learn his lesson about being leader last time and was just having fun making us his slaves, or was he honestly just power mad? Now there's a crazy thought.

Pressing the button to the right of the door, it opened with a swoosh before Radarr jumped off of my shoulder and started to explore the room.

Looking around quickly I felt the corners of my mouth form a frown; Piper wasn't here.

"If she isn't in her room, or the lab, then where can she be?" I asked myself and Radarr as I sat down on the stool that was positioned next to her surprisingly clean desk.

Radarr was sniffing around the floor like some mad wild animal would if it were looking for its supper.

Radarr also began climbing up and down random pieces of furniture in the room, and almost knocked over a few things that were on the shelves of one of Piper's many bookcases.

"Be careful Radarr!" I reprimanded my furry friend as he reached the edge of one of the many shelves. Standing up from the stool I told him, "I don't even know what half of this stuff does, so just be careful, okay?"

Radarr just waved a hand in the air as if to say, 'I _am_ being careful'.

After Radarr 'replied' to my words he was about to jump to the next piece of furniture but slipped on a – wait that can't be right – a... _banana peel?_

How in the Atmos did a banana find its way to the top shelf of Piper's bookcase?

Radarr waved his hands in the air, his foot clinging to the very edge of the shelf as he was desperately trying to regain his balance; but with one fell swoop of a force we all know as gravity, Radarr slammed into the floor.

Even though Radarr is quite light on his feet and in general, his unexpected meeting with the ground knocked a can of glue over from one of the many shelves, and with a resounding thud it landed on poor Radarr's head.

The wet sticky substance slowly dripped out of the can and onto Radarr's fuzzy blue fur. Growling in protest Radarr pulled the bucket of glue off of his head before throwing it over his shoulder.

"No!" I cried as the container of glue arced in the air before colliding with a box of crystals on the shelf. I closed my eyes as the sound of a large clatter reached my ears and a blinding burst of light managed to make itself known through my closed eyelids.

Slowly opening my eyes I realized that only one of the crystals had fallen, but it still had made quite a mess.

The room was now covered in feathers, most on the floor already but a few were still floating about lazily inside of the room.

Shaking my head I moaned as I said warily, "Piper's going to kill you Radarr! More specifically, me."

I heard an apologetic whimper that sounded a whole lot like one Radarr would make, but I couldn't see where Radarr had gotten to.

"Radarr?" I called out as I waded through the knee deep feathers that adorned the floor of Piper's lab.

Oh ya; I was dead meat for sure.

"Squawk!" I heard a noise from Radarr as he jumped up onto Piper's desk.

Wow, talk about camouflage! Because of the glue that had dropped onto Radarr earlier he now looked like a bird rather than my co-pilot.

Try to keep my growing need to laugh at my little friend's predicament at bay I managed to say, "You're a mess Radarr!"

My now white co-pilot just growled as he continued to look around the room.

"Now, where did that dumb banana go?" I mumbled as I reached to the top of the shelf that Radarr had fallen from in search of the banana – the reason for this disaster. I had a sinking feeling about who had put the yellow peeling there.

Feeling something slimy in my hand I grabbed onto it and sure enough, it was the banana peel that Radarr had slipped on. Oddly enough there was a note attached to it with a bunch of scribbles on it that I guessed were meant to be words.

It read:

I hnaw low nuch you luve to bo exqerliments anb soch, sa lere is o qresenl tor you Qiqer. Noyde it you ore luchy if vill lawe sqrooleb o tuzzy greem tunpus dy fle fine you timb if!

Chicka Cha Dude

"What on earth is that supposed to mean!" I said exasperated as I once more sat down on the stool. It would figure that the only part of the note that Finn had made neat was his name.

"He seriously needs some lessons on penmanship; among other things."

Looking it over for another few minutes, I finally deciphered the meaning of the note – I think. I figured that it was supposed to be:

I know how much you love to do experiments and such, so here is a present for you Piper. Maybe if you are lucky it will have sprouted a fuzzy green fungus by the time you find it!

Chicka Cha Dude.

I groaned at Finn's childishness as Radarr began to bounce up and down on the desk beside me. When I turned to look a him and his antics, Radarr's face lit up as he pointed to the desk underneath him.

"What's the matter Radarr?" I asked as I walked up to him. He was still pointing at the desk. "Radarr, its just an empty desk!"

He nodded before he jumped from one place in the room to another pointing at random places where there was absolutely nothing.

"Radarr, have you gone bananas? There's nothing there!" Radarr just shook his head in disappointment. I wasn't really what he was disappointed about, but I guess I'd figure it out eventually.

Walking towards the door and opening it I said to Radarr, "Let's go." Rolling his eyes, Radarr jumped down into the pile of feathers and disappeared, the only sign of where he was were the feathers that were moving.

Laughing at whatever had caused Radarr to show me places in the room with nothing there I began to walk out the door before I stopped dead in my tracks.

Hold up.

Nothing?

Shouldn't Piper's desk at least have had _something_ on it?

Returning back into the room I glanced at every single place Radarr had pointed out to find that in each place there was something missing. On the shelves, a few books and crystals were missing in action, as was the squadron log book that wasn't in the usual spot in the drawer of Piper's desk where she hid it from us guys. I had figured out awhile ago where she hid it, but I never told her or any of the guys.

I also noticed that Piper's sketchbook was missing from its usual place hidden by the door. No one besides Radarr and I knew she liked to sketch.

But why is all this stuff missing? She didn't quit _again_, did she?

* * *

**Hee hee hee Aerrow can be so clueless at times... XD**

**Sorry that it took me awhile to update I had a lot of distractions around the house today in the forms of my mom and brother.**

**Alright, this has to be the longest chapter of this story yet, but do you want to know something funny? When I was brainstorming this I thought it was just going to be a oneshot, but look how far we are! This is what, chapter 10? Anyways, I must be off to type the next chapter of APAH or else I will have some very angry readers on my hands tomorrow...**

**Crimson Fox4**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks again to everyone for reviewing! I like reviews... what author doesn't?**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

As soon as I heard the slam of Junko's door echo down the halls and onto the bridge, I almost immediately began to pace nervously near the helm. There was no telling what Finn would do now that I was the only one left for to boss him around.

Oh fate! Why must you torture me so?

"Stork!" Finn yelled my name. I cringed inwardly as he continued, "Stop pacing! You're giving me a headache!"

"Sorry." I mumbled as I turned to the controls of the Condor; I always felt safest there.

After all of a few seconds, Finn was yelling at me again, "Stork!"

"What?" I replied through my clenched teeth as I looked over my shoulder at my pompous teammate. I was surprised that his ego-aided inflated head hadn't filled the entire bridge yet...

"Can't you stop making so much noise? I mean, I can hear your knees from over here!"

"My wha?" I confusedly asked the blonde 'leader'.

Rolling his eyes Finn repeated himself, "Your KNEES. They're louder than Junko repairing my skimmer!"

Rolling my eyes, I turned away from Finn and back towards the controls.

Like Finn would know what Junko repairing his skimmer sounded like anyways! He was never around to help Junko and I put his puzzle of skimmer pieces back together again once he had 'accidently' destroyed the poor skimmer in a battle.

Sighing, I quickly glanced down at my knees when I noticed that they were actually shaking, and quite violently at that.

"Oh..." I mumbled to myself as I willed me knees to stop shaking.

Why hadn't I noticed that they were shaking before? If the noise was really as bad as Finn said it was – which it more than likely wasn't – why didn't I hear it? Was I going deaf?

I could feel my lungs begin to hyper ventilate as I began to think of the idea before I quickly realized something; I wasn't going deaf. I was just too busy to notice the predicament of my knees because of my doom filled thoughts; doom inflicted by a power crazed Finn that is.

"STORK!" Finn yelled at me.

"What?" I replied through my still clenched teeth. Clenching your teeth really wasn't a good habit, _or _necessarily good for you, but I was determined not to snap at Finn and get banished. Trust me, I would LOVE to get banished, I wouldn't have to deal with Finn's attitude, but with all of the others banished, I was the last line of defense my precious Condor had from Finn.

Who knows what Finn would do to the Condor if he had the chance! The possibilities were endless... that wasn't good.

"Oh nothing," Finn said as he tossed a bouncy ball from the spot where he was lounging to the wall across from him. "I just wanted to make sure you were still listening, that was a test."

A test? Since when did _Finn_ ever _test_ anything? Oh well, I guess he was just having fun messing with me...

I wish he would stop!

Looking over a few gauges, I noticed that we were running a little bit low on crystal fuel.

Funny; I thought we just filled up the tanks a little bit ago. I guess we must have traveled a bit farther than we thought. Looking at a different gauge, I realized that we hadn't traveled very far at all... wow, that was strange.

While I was mulling this over in my mind, I didn't notice that Finn had crept up behind me until he yelled in my ear, "STORK!!"

"AH!" I screeched as I jumped into the air and latched onto a low hanging pipe above my head.

"What 'cha doing way up there Stork" Finn asked wiggling his eyebrows. Was he seriously asking for a beating? I wish I could be the one to deliver it to him someday!

"N-nothing." I stammered as I gently let go of the failing pipe, happy that it hadn't given way and erupted into steam. Knowing Finn, he would have tried to fix it because he thought he was the leader, and he would have just made the pipe's situation worse... much, much worse...

Brushing some invisible dust off of my clothes I almost jumped back onto the pipe again when Finn stomped his foot onto the ground right next to me.

"I'm _so _bored!" Finn complained as he looked at me expectantly. "Isn't there anything to do around here?"

Trying to keep my anger under check, and trying to avoid being involved with Finn's 'fun' I replied as emotionlessly as I could, "What happened to your ball?"

"Wastelands." He replied simply as he pointed to a window that wasn't very far from where he had been playing with his ball a little earlier.

"Oh." I said as my jaw dropped to make the 'o' sound very elongated. I had to put a hand to my forehead before it slipped all the way down my face almost like the windshield wipers on the skimmers did.

Where Finn had pointed there now remained a very jagged frame of glass still in the place where a window should've been. The rest of the poor window was in pieces scattered about the floor.

So much for not letting Finn destroy the Condor...

* * *

**A little short compared to the last chapter I posted, I know, but I'm having so much fun writing from Stork's POV, I'm going to stretch his part of the story out a bit longer so that it doesn't seem terribly fast paced.**

**Also, sorry that I updated a bit late at night again... I was busy typing up chapter a6 of APAH for most of the day... but unfortunately I only have the epilogue of that fic left... cries Oh well... I've still got this one to type!!**

**Well the poll is definately showing so results... I think I might incorporate a few ideas into each other for the ending starting next chapter we'll see how it goes... and for those of you who haven't voted yet, the poll is WIDE open!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	12. Chapter 12

**I just want to say thanks to all of those people out there reading this story, and for those kind enough to review!! I hope you are all enjoying it so far!!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

Alright... so far Finn had broken a window... that's fine... it's just fine... a window can be fixed... But no matter how much I kept telling myself that, it didn't make it any better.

"So..." Finn said wiggling his eyebrows yet again; I hated it when he did that.

Continuing he said mischievously, "How about some fun good buddy, Stork ole' pal!"

"F-fun?" I said as I felt the corner of my eye begin to twitch. Finn's ideas of what was fun were usually twisted out of proportion some way or another...

"Don't sound so scared Stork!" Finn said laughing as he clapped me on the back.

Just managing not to fall flat on my face, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. Mindworms were known to be transferred by touch, and I doubt that anyone could miss noticing that Finn was a most likely target for mindworms.

Shuddering as I took a step back from Finn and his idiotic grin before I warily asked, "What type of 'fun' are we talking about? Then we'll see if I should be scared or not."

"I don't know..." Finn said trailing off as he began to think.

Wait a second. Finn was thinking? Wow. He was a most definite target for mindworms now that he was actually using his mind...

Finn's face lit up like a light bulb, and you'd half expect him to be yelling eureka, but I don't think that word was in his vocabulary last time I checked.

"I was just thinking the usual sort of fun... some shooting practice," I could just imagine myself spinning attached to a wheel now...

"Maybe snatching a few of Piper's crystals," Instant doom right there.

"How about rocking out to my tunes?" Kill me now fate! Why do you continue to torture me so!

"Wait," Finn said pausing as he seemed to have had another eureka moment. "How about we break that speed record?"

The twitchy feeling in my eye began to grow as I stammered, "W-wha- what?"

Finn just looked me over like I was crazy. "You know... the thing where we go really, REALLY FAST!" He said jumping up and down giggling like a little school girl would.

"No." I said immediately.

"What?" Finn said in shock as he stopped bouncing around. "Why not?"

"We almost tore the Condor apart last time we tried that!"

"Oh come on!" Finn said as he began to whine, "I'm sure this old rust bucket could handle it!"

Oh. That was the last straw right there. No one calls the Condor a rust bucket and gets away with it! No one but me that is!!

"THE CONDOR DEMANDS AN APOLOGY!" I screamed in Finn's face.

"Do I sense dissent?" Finn asked quite nonchalantly as he stared at me.

"I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!" I replied, continuing to yell.

Wiping something of his face Finn mumbled, "You just spat on me!"

A slight grin tried to creep onto my face as I said, "So?"

"BANISHED!" Finn yelled as he stormed off to sit in his chair.

Yes! I got banished!

No! There isn't anyone to protect the Condor anymore!

As I inched toward the door that led to the freedom beyond the bridge and yet my emanate demise I heard Finn yell to my retreating form, "What happened to the Bridge Throne I asked for last time I was in charge around here? Doesn't anyone know how to take orders anymore?!

* * *

**Well I decided that I'm going to do another Stork chapter tomorrow, and then we FINALLY get to see some of the poll results thrown in here as we get closer and closer to the end of the chaos! (The poll is still open as always)**

**I hope you are all enjoying these Stork chapters... they have been quite fun to write!! :D**

**Crimson Fox4**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks again to all of my reviewers, and to everyone who has been reading this!!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

I stalked down the corridors of my precious Condor lost in thought. There wasn't much else to do when you're banished except for maybe waiting for the impending doom...

Who does Finn think he is? I mean, I'm the only one here that knows all about the Condor, and now she's left in his trigger happy hands!

I wish there was something I could do to save you my precious Condor! But Finn and his ego... ugh! Finn has to be the most annoying person on this ship! He _must _have mindworms devouring his brain by now.

I sighed as I kicked a random screw that was on the ground. As the tinkering sounds of it bouncing off the metal floors and wall reached my long pointed ears I couldn't help but wonder if there actually was _nothing_ I could do.

I'm not usually the optimistic one and all, but we're talking about the Condor here! MY pride and joy; my baby!

Quickly glancing around, I walked calmly into the room to my right. Shutting the door behind me and locking it with a quiet click, I looked around the room and couldn't repress the slightly sinister smile that I knew was playing across my lips.

I found myself in the kitchen and was almost surprised to not see Junko in here. Usually if Junko isn't repairing something in the engine room, he's in here stuffing his face.

I shrugged my shoulders at the odd silence that was in the room, and in fact the entire Condor as I walked over to a cupboard above the counter on the far wall.

Opening up the cupboard, I reached into the depths of its domain on a quest for a few specific pots and pans – I mean – my _armour_. Finally finding what I was searching for, I tried yanking on the handles, but the pots were stuck fast.

I tried a few more times to get them out before with a sigh I gripped the handle before planting my feet on the counter, and then leaning back I yanked with all of my might as though I was trying to get my last bottle of mind repellent back from Radarr – I've had to do that before you know.

With one last yank the pots I had been looking for came free, but not without a price.

"Yes!" I yelled to myself as I looked at the two pots in my hands; that was before I realized I was about three feet above the air ready to crash in to the floor any moment.

Despite my frantic grabbing for a hold of some sort, all of my actions were fruitless as I crashed into the ground below me.

Dumb gravity.

I rubbed the back of my head gingerly as I got up groggily.

Well I got my 'armour' but at what cost? I probably had a concussion now.

Concussions attract mindworms.

I shuddered at the thought of mindworms trying to infest my brain, it wasn't the prettiest thing for anyone to imagine.

My head felt slightly better despite the egg that would be appearing on the back of my head in a matter of minutes.

Grasping onto the edge of the counter, I quickly pulled myself up – you never know what has been on the floor before you were – but in my haste, I managed to bash my head against the door of the cupboard that I had opened only moments before.

"Ow!" I yelped as I jumped back from the door, yet another egg promising to appear on top of my noggin in just a few moments.

Looking up at the sound of metal rubbing against metal, my eyes rocketed open in fear as I saw the precariously stacked metal cooking utensils and containers all leaning towards me threatening to become an avalanche of hurt at any moment; and that it did.

"NO!" I cried as an unfathomable amount of pots and pans and containers crashed down on my poor head, but really; how did _all _of these pots and pans fit in that _tiny _little cupboard?

"Ow..." I mumbled as what I hoped was the final square, or round, or pointy metal object crashed into the rest that were already on top of me.

All of this just to protect the Condor.

With my luck, I would be able to fill a whole egg carton with the dozens of eggs that were forming on my battered head.

* * *

**Alright, sorry that this chapter was updated a little later at night than I've been trying to! I hope you all enjoyed it though, it wasn't extremely funny, but I tried.**

**Okay, I think I promised a few people that this chapter would begin the events that lead to the end of this story (poll is still open XD) but seeing how this chapter turned out... well... its going to be one of the next two chapters, alright?**

**Thanks again for reading! **

**Crimson Fox4**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thankas again to all of you readers and reviewers out there! This chapter is in Aerrow's POV, just a heads up!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

_AERROW_

I had been walking through the halls of the Condor for the past ten minutes poking my head into all of the rooms I came across unless they were bedrooms. I still couldn't find Piper anywhere.

I actually hadn't seen anyone since I saw Junko go into his room awhile ago.

The silence that was overwhelming the Condor today... it was really kind of creeping me out.

There was always something going on; whether it was Junko fixing some pipes or the skimmers, Finn applauding himself on his latest scheme, Radarr running around the ship, Stork ranting of doom, or Piper and I practicing our Sky Fu; there was always something going on _somewhere_ on the ship that made _some_ sort of noise. But today... it was eerily quiet.

I didn't like it.

As I walked past the kitchen, I thought I heard someone talking inside, so I walked up to the door and put my ear up to it, hoping it wasn't Finn or anything bad like Cyclonians.

What? I bet even Cyclonians wouldn't be able to turn down Piper's sandcakes.

I heard a muffled bang before I heard someone yelp, "Ouch!"

The soft bang and exclamation of pain were followed a few moments later by a scream of, "NO!" I couldn't help but wince in pain as I heard the ominous thunder of a metal avalanche that happened in the kitchen every few weeks; generally when any of the guys or I tried to cook...

I apprehensively opened the door to the kitchen and peered in to see who was in need of a rescue team, or maybe a hospital.

I glanced about the room until I saw a pile of pots and pans on the floor below a now emptied cupboard.

Hearing a moan come from beneath the mound of metal I inched forward and said, "I sure hope you aren't playing hide and seek again..."

Another moan met my ears before a familiar paranoid voice said, "Do you know how many invisible germs are on these pots! Get them off; get them off, GET THEM OFF!"

Chuckling I bent down and grabbed the handles of a few pots to reveal the green face of a pretty ticked of merb. "Nice to see you too Stork." I said in good cheer.

Stork just scowled as he took my outstretched hand to help him escape his metal prison.

"What's the matter Stork?" I asked our carrier pilot.

"What's wrong?" Stork asked rhetorically as his eye began to twitch uncontrollably. "WHAT'S WRONG?!" Stork screamed in my face.

"I'll tell you what's wrong!" Stork said a _little _more calmly before rushing on saying, "Finn's going mad I tell you; absolutely MAD! I think his madness is going to make me mad, and I'll get mindworms! And … he…" Stork complained as he began his usual hyperventilation fit.

"Calm down Stork!" I said as I shook his shoulders before encouraging him, "Breathe."

Stork Managed to take a few deep breaths before he collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Do you know what Finn is planning to do?" Stork asked me with wide eyes.

"No..."

"He wants to try and break the speed record, AGAIN!"

I inwardly flinched as Stork began to yell. Again I found myself saying, "Calm down Stork! I'm sure Finn was just messing with you."

"Still..." Stork said as he stared at some invisible point on the table.

With an exasperated sigh he looked up to me and asked, "Why?"

"Huh?" I replied as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Why did you give Finn a second chance when he so obviously doesn't deserve it?"

"Well… I, um... that is..." I stuttered.

Why had I given Finn a second chance? I mean; the rest of the squadron told me that he had gone completely power mad, but they hadn't really gone into much detail.

I guess Piper had, she had written me a report after all, but when she was outlining a few things that were important when she gave it to me... Well I just couldn't pry my eyes away from her beautifully orange ones. Wait – why am I calling them beautiful? Snap out of it Aerrow! Piper's your teammate for goodness sakes!

Snapping myself away from my thoughts I tried to cover up my stuttered words by saying, "Everyone deserves a second chance."

"Even Finn?" Stork asked doubtfully.

"Even Finn." I replied.

Stork still looked at me like I was crazy so I added, "Everyone deserves a second chance; what they decide to do with it is a whole other story."

Stork just nodded numbly as he stood up and picked up a few pots from the floor.

"You cleaning up?" I asked Stork as he examined the pots in his green hands.

"Nuh-uh."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Armour." Stork replied simply.

"Oh..." I said as I tried to think of a reason why Stork would need armour, but the reason escaped me so I said, "I'm going to go now, are you going to be okay?"

"As good as I can be with Finn in charge." He mumbled as I headed towards the door.

"I'll take that as a yes!" I called over my shoulder as I exited the kitchen and Stork's chaos to walk the halls of the Condor once more.

Stork is as bad as Wren when it comes to getting his armour from the kitchen...

* * *

**Sorry that this update was so late today, but I'm still keeping up with my update schedule! I'm updating this like 5 minutes before midnight wehre I live, so its still technically the 14th!!**

**So, the story got a minor kick in the pants to where I want it to head to for the end, but this chapter didn't turn out as planned and kind of lacks the usual funny... sorry!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks again to all of those lovely reviewers out there, and faithful readers!!  
I haven't had any anonymous reviews yet, but I'm not sure if that is good or not... Oh well. I accept anonymous reviews to those who may be interested in knowing.**

**I don not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

_AERROW_

Leaving Stork to sort himself out in the kitchen and to nurse his 'wounds' I decided to check the hangar to see if Piper could be there.

I was guessing that it had been anywhere from half an hour to an hour since I had seen my navigator and I was getting kind of worried. Not paranoid like Stork by any means, but I just... I don't know... I was worried.

Piper was never really off of the radar for more than a few minutes at the most without telling someone where she was headed.

I can understand that she didn't feel inclined to do so after how Finn had treated her, and banished her... but I'm pretty sure that everyone else is banished now as well.

Wait a second; she's been banished before, what if it's really _me_ she is mad at? That wouldn't be good at all! I don't think I can handle having Piper mad at me.

She is usually so good natured and kind, but she's a volcano waiting to erupt if you're standing on her last nerve.

I hope she has more than one nerve left to be stood on...

Pushing my thoughts aside temporarily as I reached the door connecting the hangar to the rest of the ship, I entered cautiously. Who knew if another mountain of boxes would come crashing down on me? Or worse yet, what if Piper was in there ready to blow?

Wow, I'm really starting to sound like Stork now. I wonder if that's a good or bad thing. It's more than likely bad.

Feeling a sigh of relief exit my lips, I had the strangest feeling come over me as my emotions began mix and churn within my stomach when I realized Piper was nowhere to be seen in the hangar.

On one hand, I was relieved that she wasn't in there to yell at me and get in my face like she was known to do to Finn. I really didn't want to have to experience that anger first hand. It's funny when you're a spectator, but I'd imagine that once you were actually in the crosshairs of Piper's temper, well... then it'd be time to turn tail and run from your 'doom' as a certain Merb might say.

On the other hand though, I really want to figure out where Piper is. I hope she's okay...

I sighed yet again as I began to poke through the hangar bay for some sign that Piper had been there. The sigh wasn't out of exasperation, or relief... I don't know; I guess it was just from confusion.

Seriously though, where did Piper go? It's almost like she's just vanished. I was also beginning to wonder if I should have 'escorted' Piper to her room like Finn had wanted me to do in the first place. Maybe if I hadn't stuck around on the bridge to laugh at Finn, might know where Piper is right now rather than worrying sick about her.

The leader of any Sky Knight squadron was expected to be aware of his crew's feelings and whereabouts, and right now, I feel like I messed up a bit at that. No, correction; I completely and utterly messed up.

How did I mess up? Once everyone is done being mad at Finn of banishing them, they are going to come to the revelation soon, if they already haven't, that its my fault he is acting team leader in the first place.

Even I am surprised at how dense I can be at times... but that's what gives Piper one of her many jobs on the Condor and on our team. She seems to always know when there is something wrong with someone – including me. It's like she reads us all like a book. I had heard her call it something before when I told her it freaked me out a bit. With a laugh and a wave of the hand, Piper had told me it was something called women's intuition... I'm still not quite sure what it means but its not like I'd tell anyone that.

I don't tell people a lot of things. Including how mad I get when I can't find Piper, or how I hate the way that I get lost in her pools of orange which are better known as eyes. I _especially _don't tell people that I ….

My thought process came to a sudden halt as the ladder in front of me demanded my full attention as of the second I saw it. It was the ladder that we had used a few months back to get to the hatch that was in the top of the roof of the hangar.

The hatch led to the roof of the Condor where we had spent a good many days repairing the roof. Speaking of which, I ought to check on how the roof is doing; it's _my _chore after all.

Ever since we had to repair the roof last time, I've been checking up on it every few weeks to make sure everything was okay and that we didn't need to patch our patch or anything silly like that. I guess it was just another thing that I feel I should do as leader to keep my squad, no my friends, safe.

Stepping onto the first rung of the ladder, and grabbing onto one that was a little bit above my eyesight I began the climb towards the otherwise unreachable hatch.

I just hope there isn't anything to fix. If we have to fix something, that means we have to buy more tar, which means Finn will once again hove the ingredients for a goo bomb… it's a scary thought. And considering that Piper's room is now overflowing with feathers, any of us could be looking like real hawks at any moment...

Nope. I _definitely_ don't want to have to go through that – again.

* * *

**Sorry again for the lack of funny, but I don't know... with everyone banished... there isn't much conversation anymore... Ah well, for now you can have fun watching me (or rather, reading I guess) Mess with the Storm Hawks minds a lot has been internal dialogue as of late... /shrugs/**

**I'm planning the next chapter to be a Piper chapter... but we'll see how that turns out... (yes, you'll finally get to figure out where Piper went!)**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. Have any of you figured out from this story yet where I might be going with the end of this story? Well... lets just saying I'm taking some of the poll results and mashing them together in a contorted plot XD**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you again to everyone who have been kind enough to leave reviews, and for reading this story! Most importantly though, thank you all for being patient with me... I know I've missed two of my usual update times, but I'm going to try and make it up to you.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

_PIPER_

I had long ago given up on my book that I had brought with me; I already knew how to drive Finn up the wall if needed, and there was only 101 ways to control your anger and some of them were pretty weird.

Number 74 was to take a deep breath, stick a spoonful of peanut butter in your mouth and then deal with the person once you managed to get all of the gooey substance out.

Seriously, who ever heard of using peanut butter as a way to forget about your anger? That method is pretty out there if you ask me.

I also gave up on looking at the crystals I had brought with me. I couldn't really do anything here with them except note their physical properties - colour, crystal structure, that sort of thing - which I had already done last night with the crystals I had grabbed, so basically they were deadweight in my bag for the moment.

I also wasn't sure why I had brought the log book with me. I usually write in it at night when most of the events of the day are done and over with. And of course for today, I could feel that there would be a _lot_ of events. With Finn in 'charge' why wouldn't there be?

Having nothing else to do, I leaned back and I felt a small shiver run up and down my spine as I felt the cold of the metal roof meet the bare skin on my arms that wasn't covered by my uniform.

Whenever things got really hectic on the Condor, I would come out here on the roof when I could. Normally, I wouldn't be able to stay for long and lounge like this because Aerrow seemed to have a need to know where I was at all times.

He felt almost like an over-protective brother or father at times. I guess it's a nice feeling to know that he cares about where I am and if I'm safe, but sometimes its that feeling of brotherly love that depresses me the most.

We're all a huge family here – us Storm Hawks. Though I never tell anyone, at times it's the worst feeling you can get in your gut at night when you just can't will your eyelids to shut. It's the feeling that you're part of a family that isn't your own. That paired with the fact that your true family isn't around anymore... well, it's not the best feeling.

On the plus side though, that brotherly love that Aerrow shows towards me, it's a great comfort. During our time of being the Storm Hawks and when Aerrow was going through the Knight Trials, the whole team had grown closer and closer. We were a close knit family, if not a tad odd.

Despite the close knit feeling between all of us, and especially the guy's friendships with each other, Aerrow had always made time to hang out with me, to listen to what I had to say, to look out for me; to make sure I was okay.

Even the odd time like today, we'd have fun, just the two of us. I have to admit, when I saw Aerrow's face as he collided with the floor, it was all worth it, even my bruised leg.

Yes, I was mad at Aerrow for letting Finn be in charge again for no reason other than giving him a second chance, but I found that when I locked myself away in the lab for an hour I wasn't able to stay mad at him; he's too lovable of a person.

That's another thing that I would ponder about when I came up here on the roof, how much I actually loved Aerrow. Did I return his brotherly love, or was it more than that... did I like him more than a friend or a 'brother'? More importantly, if I did like him like that, did he return any of those thoughts?

I sighed as I stared at the clouds floating past lazily, as though they didn't care about how long they took, or that they didn't have to deal with random outbursts of emotion; it was still free swim time in the pool better known as the sky for those poofy clouds.

* * *

**Sorry again for the delay in updates. My real life kind of has taken over for this weekend, but I already have the next chapter partly written out, and I'm hoping to have time to finish it and post it later on today. Sorry again!!**

**Also, its been suggested to me to add on another category besides humour on this story (Let's all be honest... its been lacking funny lately!) SO, in your reviews, let me know what you think! As always, anonymous reviews ARE accepted!**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. For you APAH readers out there, the planned epilogue update for this weekend may get pushed back a bit considering I've hardly had anytime for this fic, and that's kind of bad considering how short these chapters are...  
We'll see how things go, I still have tomorrow off yet so we'll just have to wait and see...**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you to all of you out there that are still reading this fic! I'm sorry that the updates have been few and far between lately... with the end of the school year closing in on me... well lets just say there's a LOT more work to do now!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

After staring at the clouds for awhile, I shifted myself to a sitting position, but as I did so, I heard a crackling sort of crunchy noise coming from my pocket.

"Huh?" I mumbled to myself as I reached into my pocket to pull out a piece of paper I had stuffed in there earlier.

"Oh." I whispered to myself once I realized what it was.

It was what I had been hiding from Aerrow earlier. I hadn't actually planned on keeping it from him really, but he had scared me so much it was sort of my fist reaction to shove this small memory into my pocket.

This piece of paper was just that, a memory, because it wasn't just any piece of paper. It was a picture.

Somewhat tattered around the edges from being handled so much, and with that handling came faint fingerprint smudges on the surface of the photo that had managed to capture an old memory of our squadron's past.

Unfolding the crumpled picture, I smiled at the faces I saw.

There were five familiar faces staring back at me, and I know that the sixth that would usually be with the other five was behind the camera. Stork was never one for getting his picture taken, but he didn't mind taking other people's pictures.

The picture was from a year or so ago when Aerrow was officially knighted. Our squadron to be wanted a picture, and who wouldn't? It was probably one of the most exciting days of our lives. We were going to become an official squadron one day and Aerrow had just become a Sky Knight. Well, let's just say it only added to our already overflowing enthusiasm.

I smiled at the faded picture in my hands. We had yet to become an official squadron as to date, but we still did what we knew was right – we protected the world of Atmos from evil. Mainly Cyclonians, but I guess you never know… there could be something out there that is worse than the Cyclonians – maybe.

Looking the picture over carefully, I couldn't help but remember...

"_Congratulations Aerrow." An official looking man with a white beard said as he shook Aerrow's hand. "Not many make it through the trials; you should feel proud of yourself."_

"_I do, and thank you sir." Aerrow replied before the bearded man bade his farewells. _

_Turning around to face me and the rest of the team, Aerrow gave us one of his cheekiest smiles and was about to say something before I threw myself at him and wrapped my arms around him in a hug._

"_I can't believe you did it Aerrow!" I said happily as Aerrow hugged me back lightly._

_Pulling away I said with excitement, "You're really a Sky Knight now!"_

_Aerrow smiled and asked with a raised eyebrow, "Did you doubt me?" _

"_Of course not!" I replied quickly before adding, "I'm just excited you're a Sky Knight now! I mean, we're only fourteen! It's just so great!"_

_Walking over to us, Junko picked Aerrow up in a bone crushing hug as he said, "I'm so happy for ya' buddy!"_

_Once Junko had relinquished his grip on Aerrow, Radarr jumped up onto Junko's shoulder as Finn gave Aerrow a clap on the back and said, "Way to go dude!" _

_Smiling Aerrow asked as he looked around, "Where's Stork?"_

"_Over here!" Stork called from behind a camera. "Say sky everyone!"_

_Throwing his arm around my shoulder and pulling me in close near all of the other guys, Aerrow yelled with the rest of us, "Sky!"_

Smiling at the memory that was associated with this picture I rooted around in my bag for my sketchbook and a pencil.

Crystals?

No.

Logbook?

No.

Pencil?

Yes! Now where did my sketchbook go?

Banana peel?

No.

Wait a second… a banana peel?

Pulling the yellow wad of gooey slime coated material out of my bag, I looked down at it with disgust once I figured out who had put it in my bag of all places.

"FINN!" I yelled into the wind as I chucked the fruit rind over the side of the Condor.

I shook my head at my teammate's crude antics. Finn might have thought it was funny, but it really wasn't. I'd been finding banana peels all over the place lately at the most inconvenient times.

I hoped that Finn would forget where he put one of his little 'treasures' so that he could 'find' it. In other words, he needs to slip on one of these things and have a meeting with something known as the FLOOR!

Trying to ignore my dislike for Finn at the moment, I once again searched my bag for my sketchbook, and this time I found it. Unfortunately, I also found that some of the remnants of Finn's banana had decided to plaster themselves to the cover of my precious sketchbook – they weren't easy to come by.

With a sigh, I tried to wipe as much of the sticky substance off of the cover before I opened it up the sketchbook to a fresh clean page.

No one on the team really knew that I liked to draw, save that maybe Aerrow knew, but other than that I sort of doubted that anyone else was none the wiser. Mind you, I don't think that any of the other guys would really care if they knew that I draw sometimes.

Returning my focus to the piece of paper in front of me, I looked over the joyous scene captured in the photograph before I picked up my pencil and began to draw.

* * *

**Again, sorry about the recently sporadic updates ... and sorry for the lack of funny!! :(**

**I'm still looking for suggestions as to what other genre I should be making this other than humour... maybe I will make a poll... runs off**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. For those of you reading APAH, I'm going to try and get the epilogue up sometime this weekend - hopefully - maybe... we'll have to see... but I'm going to make sure that I update APAH before I update this fic again... sorry everyone!!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Okay everyone, thanks so much to all of you who are still interested in this fic! I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in awhile, but like I said last time, I wanted to update the epilogue of my other story before I continued this one. **

**Anyways, I finally found a smiggen of free tim to write the next chapter, so, voila!!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

_STORK_

Once Aerrow had left the room I decided that with my 'armour' I was now ready to wreak havoc on Finn's mind. He already had mindworms, so I doubted that my plan would do anymore damage to his head.

Finn won't have control of my precious Condor or this squadron much longer if I have anything to do about it though! A leadership position _definitely_doesn't belong to someone who so obviously has mindworms; although I'll have to test Finn later to make sure.

Peering out the kitchen door, I looked from my right, to my left, to my right, and back again. I really didn't want to run into Finn… he was probably going crazy right now. Whether he was going crazy because of boredom, or possible mindworm infestation, I wasn't really sure. And of course, there was the power mad Finn factor to throw into the mix of craziness that seemed to shroud him like a cloud today.

Seeing that no one was coming, I slowly and quietly made my way through the many twisting halls of my ship towards its heart – the engine room.

If I could turn off the engines for a few seconds and then turn them back on... it should create a satisfying result, and shouldn't sustain too much damage to the Condor in the process.

Yep. Turning the engines off would definitely freak out Finn. Hopefully enough to make him give up his acting team leader 'duties' like last time.

After a few minutes of stealthily making my way through the halls, I finally came to the door marked "Engine Room".

With a triumphant smile adorning my face, I pressed a button to the side of the door on the wall that would open up the door. The only problem was… it didn't open.

"Huh?" I mumbled to myself as I pressed the button repeatedly for a few seconds.

"It's jammed? But how? It was working just fine this morning when we were refueling the crystals…" Sighing, I looked around the hallway for one of the tool boxes I had stashed.

I always stash a tool box or two in important parts of the ship. Its just one of the many things that I do that the others label as 'weird', or 'paranoid'. Well, right now my 'paranoia' just saved me a trip across the Condor to find a tool box.

Puh – and they think I'm crazy! Honestly, where do you think that they got that silly idea from?

Finally locating one of the boxes, I looked in it for a screwdriver. I really hoped that Radarr hadn't stolen it like he did with my wrenches that I was constantly replacing.

At the bottom of the box, I finally found my prize and swiftly went to the work of unscrewing the panel next to the door.

Once the cover was off I started looking at some of the wires only to see that one had been cut.

Okay… that's really weird, why would someone cut the wire that controls the opening mechanism for this door? And who would have been able to do it? All of us have been busy today.

Right after we had restocked our crystal supplies, Aerrow had called a meeting in his room for everyone but Finn to discuss this whole second chance thing….

There was a window of a whole hour between then and our 'meeting' on the bridge that Piper and Aerrow had been late for. And now that I think of it, everyone had gone straight to the bridge after Aerrow's meeting except for him and Piper. But I know that neither of those two would sabotage the control systems… _especially_ the ones that controlled the engine room door.

Continuing to think through the possibilities I soon realized that it didn't make much sense, and wasn't logically possible for any of my teammates to have done this to the door.

So… who had?

* * *

**Cliffhangerish, I know, but I probably wrote this chapter in say, I don't know half an hour, so of course its kind of short - sorry about that! Also, if there are any mistakes, then that's probably why as well!**

**Oh, and once again - Sorry for the lacking of funny...**

**I'll try and update when I can, but don't be expecting anything for a week or two until my exams are over, k?**

**Well, thanks to all of you faithful readers out there!! :)**

**Crimson Fox4**


	19. Chapter 19

**Surprise!! I managed to type this chapter up yesterday afternoon after I came home from my English exam! **

**Alright, this is probably going to be one of the last cahpters as far as I can tell, so of course, this is where the poll results start taking affect, and here they are:**

**_Poll Result_**

_How would you like my newest fanfic, "What's the WORST that can happen?" to end?_

_1. __Some Aerrow and Piper fluff after the story ends with a bang (literally of course)_

_10 votes » 40 percent_

_2. __The story ends with a bang - literally._

_5 votes » 20 percent_

_3. __Piper, Stork, and Junko's 'Alpha plan' has to be used._

_4 votes » 16 percent_

_4. __Stork goes completely mad, and cuts all power to the engines after a not so stealthy stealth mission (You can imagine what the repercussions of turning off the engines are, can't you?)_

_3 votes » 12 percent_

_5. __Other (Remember, if you choose this as one of your choices, I am expecting a personal message or review telling me your idea, deal?)_

_2 votes » 8 percent_

_6. __Finn gives up because he didn't get the foot rub he wanted._

_1 vote » 4 percent_

_7. __Finn quits before Aerrow has the chance to demand Finn to give up._

_0 votes » 0 percent_

**So there they are, as you can see A lot of people wanted a fluffy and KABOOM! like ending soo... be warned XD**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

_AERROW_

Opening up the hatchway to the roof, was surprised, yet happy at what I found.

For one, the patch job on the roof was doing just fine, but most importantly I found out where Piper had been hiding.

Well, maybe she hadn't been hiding par say, but still… she had all but disappeared for a couple of hours and I hadn't been able to find her anywhere.

And now that I had found her, I wasn't all that sure if I should disturb her. Her back was pointed away from the hatch that I had just opened, and it looked like she hadn't seen me yet.

She was busy… drawing?

With my feet still on the top rungs of the ladder, I crossed my arms and leaned my upper body on the roof just outside of the hatch. I just stayed in that position for a while and watched the subtle movements of Piper's arm as she created what I guessed would be a masterpiece compared to any of my sad attempts at drawing.

My drawings had about as much artistic merit as the drawing that Finn had made of the Dark Ace for our target practice sessions.

I couldn't see what Piper was drawing, but for some reason I had always liked watching people draw. It was fascinating to me how some people had a unique talent to create; the intricate movements of their wrist with pencil in hand, how they had so much control over the smallest movement, it was all just so amazing to me.

But not like I'd let anyone know that….

I wanted to let Piper know I was behind her, but how would I accomplish that without startling her?

After watching Piper's hand dance about the paper for a little bit longer, I decided that maybe it would be best if I left. It was obvious that she was fine, and that she hadn't quit again or anything like that. It also didn't look like she was in any danger either.

I know that Piper is perfectly capable of looking after herself, but sometimes, well sometimes…. Sometimes I just wished she needed my help a bit more, you know?

We'd been squad mates for over a year now, and friends for years before that, and I still didn't know a whole lot about Piper. I probably knew more about her than anyone else on this ship, and she probably knew more about me than anyone else, but… sometimes I get this feeling that there's more that she isn't telling me.

Sighing, I pushed my upper body up off of the roof and was about to head down the ladder when I heard a voice call out to me, "Aerrow?"

Turning around to see Piper looking at me, I realized that she must have heard me sigh or pick myself off of the roof or something. So much for leaving her alone, huh?

As I clambered up and onto the roof, and walked over to where Piper was sitting and said, "Hey…" I trailed off as for some reason my vocabulary had decided to take a vacation or something; I just went … brain-dead.

Following my eyes, Piper soon figured out that I was looking at the picture she had just drawn. Smiling, she shuffled over a bit, and motioning for me to sit down she said, "If you're going to be staring at it, you can sit down you know."

Tearing my eyes away from the drawing, I looked down at Piper's kind smiling face, and returned the action as I sat down beside her.

Looking over the scene portrayed in Piper's sketchbook, I couldn't help but smile at how happy all of us had been when I had completed the Knight trials and was officially knighted.

It was the day when we truly became a squadron. Official or not, we were a team, and nothing was ever going to change that – nothing.

Smiling, I reached over to Piper's one hand where she still held the photograph. As I plucked it out of her grip, my fingers gently brushed against her hand and the oddest sensation ran up my arm and down my spine.

Quickly pulling the picture away from her hand, I looked from it to the picture Piper had so gracefully drawn and back again.

I grinned at my crazy friends in the picture.

Radarr was atop Junko's shoulder instead of mine for once, trying his best to say 'sky' along with everyone else. Junko was waving at the camera like there was no tomorrow, and then there was Finn, exchanging his signature 'chic a cha' pose with his hands to use his fingers to give Piper and I bunny ears.

I couldn't help but shake my head at my wingman's antics, but the grin on my face grew into a smile when I saw that in the drawing that Piper made, the ears were gone, only to be atop Junko's head.

I motioned between the two pictures and said, "The ears moved…"

"So?" Piper asked giggling.

Chuckling I said quietly, "Definitely an improvement."

As Piper had another giggle fit, I looked at the faded and torn picture again to see the triumphant grin that adorned my face that day, and the shy but excited look on Piper's face. I also noticed that I had slung my arm around Piper's shoulders to pull her into the shot more.

As Piper's giggling subsided I said, "I knew you could draw, but wow Piper. This is _amazing_."

Looking up at me with her large, beautiful orange eyes, she asked, "You really think so?"

Before I answered Piper, I couldn't help but notice that I had called Piper's eyes beautiful for probably the third time today, and I hadn't berated myself for it this time… what was happening to my head… and to my heart?

Looking back down at her I replied, "I _know_ so Piper."

Grinning, I heard Piper mumble, "Thanks" As she added finishing touches here and there to her drawing.

I watched the movements of Piper's hand for a moment before I tentatively wrapped my arm around Piper's shoulder like I had done a few times before without any thought. All though now, I was actually thinking it through…. What _was_ wrong with me?  
I felt Piper's muscle tense for a moment at my touch before she relaxed.

Holding the picture with tattered edges in front of us, I asked, "Do you remember this day?"

Looking up at the picture in my left hand, Piper grabbed the right side of the photo with her right hand and replied, "Of course, it was the day you got knighted, how could I be able to forget something like that?"

"Cyclonians could have brainwashed you since then for all I know."

Laughing Piper said, "Like that would ever happen."

Laughing with her I said, "Of course not."

Settling down, Piper gingerly leaned her head against my shoulder and whispered, "I know it was only a year ago, but we all look so young then."

Studying the picture critically, I realized that Piper was right.

Finn, Junko, and I had all at least gained a few inches in height and Piper had grown a bit too. Piper also had slightly longer hair now than she did a year ago. Finn had also changed his hair style so many times I had given up on keeping track about a half a year ago.

I nodded as I said, "Amazing the difference one year makes."

"Yeah…" Piper replied as her head grew a bit heavier on my shoulder.

"A lot of things have happened since a year ago when we became the Storm Hawks, and it seems like it's been more than a year, like we've been a squadron forever, you know?"

"You know what, I kind of do… and you know what else? We aren't just a squadron anymore Aerrow…"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think we're a whole lot like a family now, even if we aren't really related."

Grinning, I looked down at her from the side of my eye and asked, "How can we be family if we aren't related?"

Piper gave a small laugh at my words before saying, "We're just a mismatched family of friends, that's all I was trying to say."

I nodded at her words and gently leaned my head on top of hers and said, "It's good to be in a family again, even if its not my own."

"I know what you mean, its great being a part of a family again, but I've still got a part of me that feels empty because I know I'll never be with my real family again… Piper's voice trailed off, and after a few moments, I felt a wetness starting to form on my shoulder that Piper was leaning her head on. Taking my head off of hers, I glanced down to see that the wetness on my shoulder was from tears – Piper's tears.

Tipping her head up so that she would look at me I asked, "Piper, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Turning her head away from me, I took my hand off her chin as she wiped her eyes and mumbled, "I wasn't crying."

"Yes you were Piper."

"No I wasn't!" Piper said a bit loudly, before saying softly, "Storm Hawks don't cry… especially over their family that's gone forever, family that's never coming back, family that's … that's… dead." Piper whispered the final word as though she hated saying it.

"It's okay to cry Piper." I said as I pulled her into my embrace. As Piper began to sob into my shoulder once more, I stroked her back and assured her, "It's okay to cry, especially about loved one's you've lost."

As Piper continued to cry I whispered, "That's it, let it all out…"

After a minute or two, Piper's sobbing had stopped, but I still felt the odd tear fall onto my uniform. Looking down at the distraught Piper in my hands, I realized how I'd never really seen her cry before, how she never talked about her parents or family to anyone.

How long had all of these emotions, tears and fear been bottled up inside of her?

I guess Piper did need me after all.

Smiling at the top of Piper's head that was covered in long silky blue hair, I bent down and kissed the top of her it before I gave her a final squeeze of assurance.

Looking up at me, her usually bright eyes now looked worn, red and tired. They also didn't have their usually shine to them. But none the less she still looked… beautiful.

I couldn't help myself but to smile.

Piper just looked at me like I was the most peculiar person in the Atmos and asked, "What are you smiling at?"

Grinning I replied, "You know you're beautiful, right?"

Piper just looked at me with a shocked dumbfounded look before opening her mouth to say something.

My grin turned into a lopsided one as I stood and helped Piper to her feet realizing that for once in entire time I've known her, I had left Piper speechless.

Once I was sure Piper wasn't going to fall over from the odd swaying motion the Condor was starting to make, I bent down and carefully closed her sketchbook and put it back into the bag that she had brought with her. I was about to put the picture with it when I heard a loud explosion come from the end of the ship where the engines were.

I turned around into time to see billowing smoke coming from the Condor's engines before the Condor swayed back and forth to the point where Piper would have fallen down if I hadn't caught her.

After helping Piper up, I pulled her towards the still open hatchway that I had climbed through a little bit ago.

As Piper disappeared into the Condor, I grabbed her bag and flung it over my shoulder as I stuffed the year old picture into my pocket. I followed Piper into the hangar bay, going down the ladder as quickly as possible, forgetting to close the hatch that we had just escaped through.

Once I had reached the bottom of the ladder, Piper screamed over the alarms, "What's going on Aerrow??"

Looking at Piper and then around the hangar bay, I wondered the exact same thing.

What's _really_ going on here?

I don't think that even _Finn_ knows how to blow up the engines….

* * *

**Sorry that I was evil with the cliff hangers again... I gave you the one with Stork and the cut wires last time, and now the engines have blown up...**

**Wow... this has to be my longest chapter for this story yet...**

**Well, my last exam is on Monday morning, so I'm going to come home and celebrate the start of summer vacation by trying to get as much of this story typed out in the afternoon as possible! :) **

**Well, I hope all of you people out there that voted for fluff are satisfied!! And KABOOM, gloom and doom people... your chapter is next! XD**

**Thanks for sticking by this story and all of its random updates everyone!  
**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. I'm also sorry for another chapter lacking in funny...we'll just have to wait and see how the next chapter turns out, eh?**

* * *


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay everyone! Exams are finally over, so I'm going to start this typing marathon that I was talking about last time!! XD So, without further ado, here is the KABOOM, gloom and doom chapter that I promised you all.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

_STORK_

Playing with the wires in the control panel, I almost had the cut wire reconnected when the Condor began to sway back and forth unusually.

I was tempted to go back up to the bridge and yell at Finn because generally the Condor didn't sway like this unless you were at the controls, or if the engines were malfunctioning.

Wait – engines malfunctioning? Oh man!

I began to work even quicker to try and get the door unsealed, but then with a dramatic BANG! The door flew outwards and slammed into the wall behind me.

With my eye twitching, I couldn't help but be thankful that I wasn't in front of it to be sandwiched between the wall and the hard metal of some heavy door.

Curious as to why the door would just fly off like that, I slowly poked my head into the doorway, and began to inch inside when several Talons came running past me, one shoving me aside and yelling, "SHE'S GOING TO BLOW!!"

How had _Talons_ gotten onto _my_ ship?? Did they cut the alarm system wires like they did with this door?? WHY ARE TALONS ON MY SHIP!!

I would have had a heart attack right then and there if I hadn't remembered what was at stake if I didn't go into that engine and fix whatever those Talons had messed up.

Getting up from the floor, I dashed into the engine room only to be met by the sight of several of the fuel crystals glowing red and ready to explode, and in the centre of the room was a large box of – leachers?

**"WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE LEACHERS?!"** I screamed as I dove back out into the hallway before a deafening KABOOM rocked the ship as the engines exploded.

Opening my eyes to find out if I was alive or not, I realized that I was alive, but my precious Condor was a different story. She was fighting for her life!!

I jumped up from my spot on the floor and dashed through the many hallways to try and get to the bridge on time to avoid a total and utter doom that was probably already taking place. I also hoped that wherever Piper was that she would head to the bridge too, she would know if there were any terras near by to land, er … crash land on that is.

As I rounded one of the final corners on my quest to get to the bridge, the alarms began to blare all around me.

Well… I guess the alarms are working after all.

Imagine that.

* * *

**I hope you all liked that.. I know it was a little weak on humour and on the whole gloom and doom... but think I got the KABOOM!! in there okay :P**

**Anyways, I'm off to type the next chapter! I'm thinking... maybe two more chapters of this story to go and that should be it! A little sad, I know, but hey, I've got a couple more stories floating around in my head that need to be typed up as well.**

**Crimson Fox4**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter number two of the marathon!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

_AERROW_

Yelling above the noise of the blaring alarms Piper told me, "We should head to the bridge!"

"Sounds good!" I yelled back.

As I took a step towards the door that led to the hallway, there was a secondary explosion that rocked the ship and caused me to trip and fall on top of Piper who was in front of me.

The explosion had also managed to almost cover up a thud of something hitting the roof – almost.

Hearing a moan come from underneath me, I realized that I was still on top of Piper due to the sporadic movements and swaying of the ship.

"Sorry Piper!" I exclaimed as I scrambled to get off of her.

I was now sitting beside Piper and she let out another moan as she managed to sit up.

"It's okay." Piper mumbled as she rubbed her head.

Standing up, I offered her my outstretched hand, and thankfully, when she grabbed it she didn't try and yank me down to the floor like she had earlier this morning.

Once Piper was on her own two feet again, I gave her a small smile and said, "Want to head to the bridge now?"

Nodding, we turned to head to the bridge again when I heard an unpleasantly familiar voice behind us say, "I don't think so."

Whipping around, I saw the owner of the voice.

"Dark Ace!" I hissed as my hands flew behind my head, groping for my blades, but… they weren't there!

"You might want to close the hatch after you next time; you never know what kind of strangers will pop up."

I glared at the Dark Ace as he ignited his sword that was now surrounded with crackling red energy.

Laughing the Dark Ace said, "I see you're missing your weapons Aerrow; all the more fun to destroy you when you're defenseless!"

"Aerrow…" I heard Piper whisper from behind me, the concern evident in her voice.

Stepping between her and the Dark Ace, I continued to stare at my enemy while I told Piper, "Head to the bridge and help Stork and our 'leader' out. They've probably both lost their heads by now."

"But what about you?" Piper asked me.

"I'll be fine, now go!"

"But -"

"No buts!" I said as I nodded my head towards the door. "Now go!" Even though she was behind me, I could sense Piper's hesitation.

"Go Piper!" I said a bit more loudly so that she would finally listen.

I heard her sigh before she mumbled, "Be careful."

The sound of her receding footsteps was all that I needed to hear to know that she'd be safe.

I guess no one is really safe with the Dark Ace on their ship, but still, it was better than nothing.

"How noble of you Aerrow," The Dark Ace began as we started to circle each other. "Letting your girlfriend leave instead of staying to see your demise."

"She's not my girlfriend." I stated as I prepared for the battle that was soon to come.

"Could've fooled me with that scene I saw up on the roof a few minutes ago." The Dark Ace replied with that evil grin of his plastered onto his smug face.

Having enough talk, I charged at the Dark Ace.

Weapons or no weapons, he was going down whether he thought so or not.

* * *

**I know what you're all thinking, How can this be the second last chapter? And well, you're right! XD When I was typing this, I realized that I would need another extra chapter or two... sorry about that! I take back what I said last chapter about there only being two chapters left XD**

**Anyways, sorry about the mini cliff hanger!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter number three of this typing marathon!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

_PIPER_

I raced through the halls, trying to get to the bridge as quickly as possible. The quicker I got there and made sure things were okay, the sooner I could get back to the hanger and help Aerrow out. I know Aerrow is an amazing Sky Knight, probably the best in the Atmos, but still.

How long could he hold out against the Dark Ace?

As the ship rolled and pitched, I slid around a corner, barely managing staying on my feet, and then with another pitch and roll, I was flung through a door and onto my back.

Honestly, how many times had I fallen down today anyways?

Groaning, I got up and noticed that my staff had fallen out from my belt. Picking it up, I realized that I could have at least left my staff with Aerrow. Even if he wasn't used to wielding one, at least it was better than no weapon!

"I'm so stupid!" I mumbled to myself as I tried to pick myself off of the floor when another hard bank of the Condor caused me to roll across the floor and my shoulder to connect with bookcase that was thankfully attached to the wall.

Unfortunately though, the books weren't.

After a few books had crashed down on me, I felt something wet and sticky hit my head, and it _definitely_ wasn't a book.

I reached up to the top of my head and immediately realized what exactly had landed on my head. And sure enough, it was another banana peel. With it was a note;

_Aerrow, _

_I hope you like bananas dude! OH, and if you're wondering, I hid your blades in the fridge today!_

_Chica Cha Man_

Looking around, I realized that I was in Aerrow's room, but soon my surprise turned towards anger at Finn and his antics.

"Finn!" I yelled into the air as I stood and ran out of the room, and through some large quantity of luck, I made it to the bridge in one piece.

Sliding through the door, I almost collided with a screaming Finn.

"Piper!" Finn cried as he threw himself at my feet, latching onto one of my legs. "You've got to save us! I don't know what went wrong! I don't want to be team leader anymore!"

"_Acting _team leader!" Stork interjected while he was trying to control the Condor without its engines.

"Fine!" Finn yelled at Stork. Turning to look up at me Finn begged, "Please! Just find a terra for us to land on!"

"I would Finn -" I began before Finn cut me off.

"I'll do anything Piper! Just help us!"

"Finn! If you'd stop your begging you'd have heard me say I can't go anywhere with you attached to my leg!

Finn blinked for a moment before saying, "Of course! I knew that!"

I rolled my eyes as I used one of the Condor's shifts to slide over to my table of charts and maps. Giving one of them a once over I yelled to Stork, "Turn a few degrees west and you should find a terra within a minute or so okay?!"

"Alright, but I don't know if we have a minute…" Stork yelled to me over the still blaring alarms.

As I headed out the door I yelled back to Stork, "We'll make it! And could you _please_ do something about these alarms? We all know we're in trouble you know!"

"Where are you going Piper!" Finn yelled after me as I dashed down the hall towards the kitchen.

Sighing inwardly, I didn't even bother to respond to Finn's inquiry.

It's not exactly easy to tell a person that one of their best friends could end up being killed because of some practical joke you played on them.

And that's exactly what would happen if I didn't grab Aerrow's blades and get them to him in time.

If I wasn't quick enough the Dark Ace could… could….

He could kill Aerrow.

* * *

**Well, good, bad? Anything that you guys want me to desperately shove in here, we've only got a few chapters left of this story after all!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	23. Chapter 23

**Well, here it is, chapter four of this marathon. Sorry that it took so long to post it, real life decided to interrupt my marathon XD**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the porperty of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

_AERROW_

Fighting the Dark Ace without a weapon was difficult enough, but with the ship tossing and turning as it was, I wasn't sure I should be happy or horrified of the movement. One false move of the Condor one way or the other, surely some part of me would connect with that glowing red sword eventually – but I didn't want to think of that.

Not now.

Not ever.

I still had things I wanted to do with my life.

Places to go.

Things to see.

People to live for.

As the Condor banked to the left, I dropped to the floor of the hangar bay and felt the wind created by my enemy's sword barely missing my head. I quickly rolled out of the way with the bank ship and out of the way of the Dark Ace's plummeting foot that was meant to connect with my gut.

Catching him of guard and off balanced, I swung my foot around and took out his legs, and he landed flat on his face.

I began to smirk, but my victory was short lived as with another roll of the condor, I was now rolling towards the dark Ace who had somehow managed to get up, his sword poised and waiting.

As I slid, I was able to get into a squatting position, and when I was in range, I tackled the Dark Ace by grabbing his legs and pulling him with me.

Unfortunately, he used my momentum against me, and as we somersaulted over each other, he kicked me off of him and I flew right into the stack of crates that Piper and I had just cleaned up this morning.

I hate to admit it, but as I tried to recover the air that was knocked out of me, a voice at the back of my head kept nagging at me about having to clean the crates up later.

I shook my head to clear away the thoughts, but before I got the chance, I felt a searing heat near my throat. Looking down, I saw that the Dark Ace had put his sword right near my neck, so close that if he or I even twitched, I swore he'd be able to draw blood, I didn't even dare gulp.

Soon the Dark Ace spoke saying, "It appears I win Sky Knight, and you know what? I don't care anymore if you're still a child."

With venom in his ever lowering voice he hissed, "This ends now."

* * *

**Wow, you all must hate me for this EVIL cliffhanger! But don't worry, I'm off to type the next chapter!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	24. Chapter 24

****

Well, here's the fifth installment of the marathon I believe...

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

* * *

_PIPER_

After a quick detour to the kitchen, I sprinted to the hangar bay, not letting anything stop me. His life hung in the balance, his life was in my hands, I could just feel it, and let me tell you, that isn't a good feeling to have.

Sure enough, I had found Aerrow's energy blades in the kitchen, in the fridge, and in the fruit crisper of all places. Mind you, there was room considering there was hardly anything left in the fridge thanks to Finn and Junko's appetites.

As the Condor dipped to the right, I leaned to the left and managed to make it around the last corner without falling. I quickly barged through the door that led into the hangar only to be met with the most horrible sight in the world.

Aerrow's blades that had been in my hands now clattered to the floor, about the same time that Aerrow's limp form did as well.

"AERROW! NOOO!!" I screamed.

I was about to run over to Aerrow when the Dark Ace moved from where he was standing over my fallen Sky Knight so that he was standing directly in the path from where I was standing to where Aerrow laid.

Smirking, the Dark Ace said, "A pity isn't it? He would have made a great Talon."

"NO!" I screamed in his face. "Aerrow hated everything to do with Cyclonia, especially YOU! HE would NEVER have been a Talon, EVER!!"

"Hate is such a harsh word."

"You're the only person he used that word to describe."

"Should I be honoured?" The Dark Ace asked me sarcastically.

"No, you should be ashamed." I replied with all seriousness as I pulled out my energy staff and extended it to its full battling length.

"You really don't want to fight me…" The Dark Ace said as he readied his sword and he slowly circled me.

Raising my staff into a defensive position I replied, "Try me."

"Maybe I shall." The Dark Ace said icily as he swung his sword at me, but I blocked it with my staff, and was able to shove him away from me and get a few offensive strikes in before I had to return to my defensive positioning.

Preparing to attack me again, the Dark Ace said gruffly, "Not bad, no wonder why my Master wants you to join Cyclonia."

I blocked another swing from his firebolt powered sword as I retorted, "You already know my answer."

The Dark Ace began to smirk again as he stated, "Please, enlighten me."

Squatting down low to avoid a swipe from his sword at my head, I used my staff to vault myself over my opponent's head, and turning around, I used my momentum to whack him as hard as I could across the back of his head.

With a resounding, satisfying, and yet sickening thud, the Dark Ace fell to the floor unconscious.

Although I knew he couldn't hear me, for my own dignity, and for that of my fallen friend I whispered, "Never."

It was only then that I gave into my tears.

With tears clouding my vision, I picked my way towards where Aerrow's body laid, and I felt my knees give out from underneath me.

Know kneeling, I brushed some of Aerrow's fiery red hair away from his face and looking down, I could see the red stains on the collar of his uniform which were soon mixed with the tears that were pouring out of my eyes as I sobbed my heart out.

I was too late.

I should have been quicker.

I should have left him with at least my staff.

I shouldn't have left him at all.

It should have been me...

Suddenly, I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder, but even when I opened my eyes, everything around me was blurry; I couldn't see anything through my tears.

I was so sure that I hadn't heard the hangar bay door open at all, but then again, I wasn't really paying attention.

My sobs still hadn't died down, even with a comforting hand on my shoulder, I couldn't stop crying.

I failed him.

He's gone.

Gone forever.

Forever .

Forever in my heart.

My tears still as strong as ever, I felt the comforting hand grip my shoulder, and then there were two strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a comforting embrace.

My eyes still overflowing with tears, I was as good as blind, I couldn't tell who was trying to comfort me.

The embrace felt so familiar, yet I wasn't sure why.

Who was this person holding me; trying to make me calm down after my horrible loss of a friend, a leader, a Sky Knight, and the base of the Storm Hawks family that I had grown so accustomed to.

* * *

**Okay, I know, yet another cliff hanger, but we all live for 'em, right? XD**

**Well... Now I can say without a shadow of a doubt that there should be about... say... two chapters left... :P**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS Don't hurt me! I know it was a kind of dark chapter... but remember, this IS ' What's the WORST that can happen?'**


	25. Chapter 25

**Well, I believe this is my sixth chapter or something crazy like that today, soo... go on and read it, you don't need to be reading this Author's note!! XD (though, kudos if you do!! :D)**

**I do not own Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps**

* * *

_PIPER_

I willed myself to calm down, to stop crying, and eventually I did, but how long it actually took to stop crying... I don't think I'll ever know.

I blinked several times and at first all I could see was red, but then as my vision became clearer, I noticed that my nose was in the soft fiery strands of someone's hair, my chin resting on their blood stained uniform.

Wait a second –

Fiery hair?

Blood stained uniform?

Pulling away gently from the person's embrace, I whispered, "Aerrow?"

When the person turned their face towards me, I would have jumped for joy if it weren't for the fact that they still held me in their strong arms.

"Aerrow." I whispered again as I broke my gaze from his shining emerald eyes to wrap my arms around him and bury my face into his shoulder. I didn't care how bloody it was, it was Aerrow, and… and….

He was alive.

"How?" I murmured into his shoulder as he began to rub my back lightly.

I could almost picture his smiling face as he said to me, "I still have places to go, things to see, people to live for."

Now, I was smiling myself, and I reluctantly let go of Aerrow, fearing that if I did, it would just be a dream that he would really gone.

Pulling out of his embrace, I smiled up at him, and touching his cheek I realized that I wasn't dreaming, and that Aerrow was real.

But that also meant that the still flowing blood was real.

Almost as though he could read my thoughts Aerrow said simply, "Don't worry, he only nicked my chin."

Looking closer at where the blood was originating from, I realized that what Aerrow said was true, although the knick was pretty big. I would almost call it a gash, but it didn't seem to go very deep.

My mood turned sober though because I realized how close I had come to losing someone I cared about again. I wouldn't be able to stand losing anyone from our team, but losing Aerrow would have been the WORST.

Sensing my change in mood Aerrow asked me, "What's wrong Piper?"

I looked up at him with sadness in my eyes and I said, "I almost lost you Aerrow – for good."

I looked down at my feet which suddenly seemed very interesting to me, but Aerrow tilted my head back up so I'd have to look at him and he said, "But you didn't Piper, and that's all that matters."

Sighing, I managed to stand.

Crossing my arms, I took a few steps away from Aerrow and I mumbled, "What about next time Aerrow?" Turning around to look him in the eye I asked, "What if I lose you next time?"

"You won't."

"Or how about the time after that Aerrow? Will I lose you then?"

"Piper…"

"Or what about the time after _that_? How do I know I won't lose you again?"

Turning my back towards Aerrow again I said softly, "Almost losing you was bad enough, but what if someday I actually lose you Aerrow?"

I could feel as my eyes begin to water again, and no matter how hard I tried to keep the tears down, one managed to escape.

I heard a sigh come from behind me before I felt a spark of heat rush through my hand.

Before I knew it, Aerrow had whirled me around so that I was facing him. His hand that wasn't holding mine reached up to my cheek and wiped away my rogue tear as he said, "You won't."

Blinking to hold back any more threatening tears I managed to choke out, "How do I know for sure?"

"I promise you'll never lose me, that's why."

"Y- You promise?"

"I promise." Aerrow whispered reassuringly as he leaned in closer to me, and his lips gently brushed my cheek.

All I could do was smile up at my greatest friend in the world. For the second time in the same day, Aerrow had left me speechless, and I was beginning to like the feeling.

"Come on," Aerrow said as he wrapped his hand around my shoulders before leading me to the door. "I'm pretty sure we managed to land while I was 'dead'"

Managing a small laugh I said, "We should probably make sure no one else got hurt; and bandage you up. That would be a good thing."

Aerrow nodded, but before we walked through the door, I remembered that the Dark Ace was still unconscious on our hangar bay floor.

Stopping, I asked Aerrow, "What should we do with _him_?"

Aerrow stopped, looked at me, and at the Dark Ace before saying, "I think I know _exactly_ what to do with _him_."

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**Well, did you guys like this chapter? I tried to through in a bonus fluff chapter after all of the cliff hangers and suspense I put you through in regards to if I killed Aerrow or not...**

**Well, I believe there's one more chapter, and then this Story will have come to a close.**

**Crimson Fox4**


	26. Chapter 26

**Well, here's the first of the end chapters. I know that I said that there would only be one more chapter, but as it turns out, one chapter turned into two, so without further ado...**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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_AERROW_

Once Piper and I had dealt with the 'wound' that the Dark Ace had left me with, we headed towards the bridge to meet up with everyone else.

We had already landed on a terra, and I wanted to make sure everyone was okay before we all headed off for bed. Besides, Stork probably wanted everyone to take an inventory of all of the Condor's systems to see what needed fixing in the morning.

I wouldn't be surprised if Stork had already finished the check himself though.

As Piper and I walked through the halls that led to the bridge in companionable silence, my mind couldn't help but wander back to the events that had unfolded in the hangar bay today.

I hated to admit it, but for a few moments, I thought I was a goner. The Dark Ace had finally managed to best me, even if it was on unfair grounds.

In all truth, if it wasn't for Piper, well, I...

I wouldn't really be here right now.

When Piper came barging in, I guess she must have startled the Dark Ace or something, he pulled the sword away from my throat, probably intending to cut my throat along the way. I'm glad that he misjudged what he was doing and that he only nicked my chin.

I know that it had bled a lot, but it wasn't really large enough to be called a 'wound' like Piper had. She didn't have to bandage it or anything; it was more or less just a scratch.

When Piper came rushing in and the Dark Ace had cut my chin, well, I didn't realize that's what happened at first. I thought I really was dead, so I just slumped to the floor, but you know what? It's pretty noticeable to a person whether they're alive or not.

I was about to get up when I heard a clattering sound from the doorway. And before I realized what was happening, Piper was fighting the Dark Ace, won against the Dark Ace, and crying over me.

Even when I put my hand on her shoulder, her tears didn't lessen up a bit. It wrenched my heart to see Piper so upset, all just because she thought I was dead.

But I wasn't. I was alive, and she was crying.

At the time, I couldn't even begin to think of what I could say to her to stop her from crying, so I just pulled her into a hug, and eventually she calmed down enough to realize that it was me who was holding her.

Having Piper think I was dead and me there witnessing her reaction to it, well, it made me realize a few things.

It made me realize just how important I was in Piper's life, and how important she was to me. Piper went beyond actions to show me that today. And me promising her that I'd always be there for her, well that's just one way that I reacted to her words and actions.

People always say actions speak louder than words, and I guess today I realized that; not just because of my near death experience, but also because earlier today I had given Finn the position of acting team leader. I'm pretty sure that when I did the whole course of our day was altered.

But I couldn't help but smile when I remembered what Piper and I had done with the Dark ace while he was still passed out on the hangar bay floor.

I had found one of Stork's extra emergency rescue balloons in one of the over turned crates.

Piper and I had strapped it to our enemy's back, and pulled the cord, and let him float out of the hangar bay doors to who knows where. We figured that some Talon would find him floating in the skies – eventually.

And now Piper and I were headed to the bridge not only to check up on everyone, but to try and get it through Finn's thick head that actions have consequences.

By the look on Piper's face right now, I have to say, Finn had better watch himself.

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**You guys probably won't believe this, but as I was re-reading this chapter, I realized that I had forgotten to tell you what they did to Dark Ace! So, if the end of this chapter doesn't flow amazingly well, that's probably why.**

**Anyways, this is the second last chapter of this fic!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	27. Chapter 27

**Well, here it is, the last chapter! Enjoy!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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PIPER

Walking onto the bridge, I restrained myself from walking right over to Finn and yelling at him for his stupidity. It wasn't unusual for me to do so, but still, I'd have a good enough chance to do that later.

Finn being Finn, he probably wouldn't notice the dried blood on the underside of Aerrow's chin for awhile, so until that moment came I decided to focus on helping Aerrow figure out what needed to be repaired.

"Stork, Junko, how's everything looking?" Aerrow asked as Stork finished speculating over a few gauges at the helm of the Condor.

Stork opened his mouth to speak, but then turned to glare at Finn who said, "Excuse me, I thought I was the leader for today! Shouldn't I be looking after this?"

I heard Stork mumble, "_Acting _team leader" before I told Finn something very bluntly.

Pointing to the window I stated, "Look Finn. It's dark out. That signals that the day has ended. What do you know? The day ended, and that also signals that you are no longer the acting team leader of this squadron."

"Oh come on!" Finn said as he pouted before whining, "I didn't get a foot rub, we never had that party, _and_ I never got my bridge throne that I wanted!"

I looked at Finn skeptically as he crossed his arms and exclaimed, "The Cyclonians blew up our engines! Doesn't that call for a do over or something?"

Sighing, I rubbed my temples and said, "No Finn, no it doesn't!"

Uncrossing his arms, Finn slumped over until his posture was like that of Stork's before he said in a somewhat defeated tone, "Just because you can't stand me outdoing Aerrow in leadership doesn't mean you should deny me my rightful do over!"

I had just about had it with Finn's antics, and it was time that I made him be quiet for once in his life.

Trying to keep my temper controlled as much as possible I replied, "Finn? Do you even _know_ what a leader is supposed to do?"

"Of course I do!" Finn told me, trying to appear flabbergasted that I thought he didn't.

Letting a small smile of pre-mature victory flit across my face for a moment I asked, "What _is _a leader supposed to do, in your opinion of course, Finn?"

"Puh!" Finn said, waving his hand as though dismissing my question. "That's so simple. A leader should be fearless, cunning, know how to get his team out of a jam, handsome, smooth with the ladies, and admired by many."

As I rolled my eyes Finn tacked onto his list, "And they should be able to kick the Dark Ace's sorry self back to Cyclonia."

Shaking my head I said, "None of those characteristics of a leader come close to describing you Finn!"

"Hey!"

"It's true!" I retorted before continuing, "When the Condor was about to crash from the engines exploding, you were latched onto my leg _begging_me to find a terra for us to land on so we wouldn't crash into the wastelands! And last time I checked, you don't have a fan club running around. Also, since when have you ever defeated the Dark Ace? You're always the first one to have your skimmer cut in half by him!"

I could see Aerrow and my other teammates out of the corner of my eye; some looking totally surprised, and some, like Radarr, were trying to keep their fits of laughter in.

Finn just glared at me before he said, "Well at least I'm still handsome and smooth with the ladies!"

My eyes shot skyward again as I replied, "Your 'smoothness' with girls is questionable Finn, and as far as you being handsome …"

Finn looked at me with some hope in his eyes that he could still qualify for one of his 'leadership qualities'.

"…No comment."

Finn was once again pouting as he mumbled, "Way to tear a guy down Piper."

I just shrugged my shoulders in response and was quite surprised when I heard Aerrow's voice.

"You know what? I'll let you have that do over tomorrow Finn."

"Really?" Finn cried, his face suddenly brightening.

"_What_?!" I exclaimed, whipping around to face Aerrow.

Holding up his hand to quiet me, Aerrow looked at Finn and said, "On one condition."

"Anything!" Finn cried. He looked like a little girl about to hop up and down with glee.

Smiling Aerrow continued, "You have to let me teach you a thing or two about leadership tomorrow."

Finn looked thoughtful for a moment - _a moment_ – before answering, "But I didn't think you were that smooth with the ladies…"

Aerrow sighed before saying, "I'm going to teach you the _real_ characteristics of a leader, how's that?"

"Yeah, yeah – sure. Whatever." Finn mumbled as he stifled a yawn before saying, "Well this leader needs his shut eye. See you bright and early in the morning, you hear?"

Once Finn had walked past me, I turned around, stuck out my tongue and gave a mock salute to his back.

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked up to see a smiling Aerrow say, "Don't worry Piper, what's the WORST that can happen?"

Now why do I feel like I've heard _that_ before?

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**Well... that's the end of it all. I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted! :)**

**Thanks goes out to all of my reader's and reviewers who have stuck with me from start to finish, I really appreciate it!**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. I have an epilogue posted as well, you just have to keep in mind that because these chapters have been so short, the epilogue will be even _shorter_. (like, minuscule ... )**


	28. Epilogue

**The epilogue - Enough said, right?**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.**

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EPILOGUE

Squadron Log,

_Well, today with Aerrow putting Finn in charge, we discovered a whole new meaning to the phrase, 'What's the WORST that can happen?'_

_It's hard to believe that we'll have to go through it all again tomorrow..._

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**Well there you go, short and sweet.**

**Thanks again for all of your support everyone!**

**Until next time,**

**Crimson Fox4**


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